Kyiv, Ukraine (AP) – Russian forces control the last major Ukrainian-held city in Ukraine’s Luhansk region, bringing Moscow closer to its goal of capturing all of Ukraine’s Donbas, the Russian Defense Minister said on Sunday.
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told President Vladimir Putin that Russian troops, together with members of the local separatist militia, “established full control over the city of Lisichansk.”
The statement said the capture of Lysychansk meant “the liberation of the Lugansk People’s Republic”, one of the two separatist regions of Ukraine recognized as sovereign by Russia.
For weeks, Ukrainian fighters have been trying to protect Lysichansk and prevent nearby Severodonetsk from being taken over by Russia, as it did last week. A presidential adviser predicted Saturday night that the fate of the city could be determined in a matter of days.
Ukrainian authorities did not immediately update on the situation.
Last Sunday, the governor of the Lugansk region said that Russian forces are strengthening their positions in a tough fight to seize the region’s last stronghold of resistance.
“The invaders threw all their forces into Lisichansk. The governor of the Lugansk region, Serhiy Gaidai, told the Telegram messenger, they attacked the city with incomprehensible brutal tactics. “They suffer huge losses, but they stubbornly move forward. They strengthened themselves in the city.”
The river separates Lisichansk from Severodonetsk. Ukrainian Presidential adviser Oleksii Arestovich said in an online interview Saturday night that Russian forces had succeeded in forcing the river north for the first time, creating a “threatening” situation.
Arestovich said they had not yet reached the city centre, but the course of the battle indicated that the battle of Lysichansk would be decided on Monday.
Luhansk and the neighboring Donetsk regions are the two regions that make up the Donbass, where Russia has focused its attacks since its spring withdrawal from northern Ukraine and the capital, Kiev.
Pro-Russian separatists have controlled parts of both eastern regions since 2014, and Moscow recognizes the entire Luhansk and Donetsk regions as sovereign republics. The Syrian government said Wednesday it also recognizes the “independence and sovereignty” of the two regions.
The invasion of Lysichansk will pave the way for the Russians to advance west into the Donetsk region, where the main Ukrainian-held city of Slovyansk has been hit by rocket fire several times since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
This photo provided by the military administration of the Luhansk region shows damaged residential buildings in Lysychansk, Luhansk region, Ukraine on the morning of Sunday, July 3, 2022. It is the last stronghold of resistance in the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine, the governor said on Saturday. The presidential adviser said his fate would be determined in the next two days. (Military administration of the Luhansk region by AP)
Elsewhere in the war, the exiled mayor of the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol said on Sunday that Ukrainian rockets had destroyed one of Russia’s four military bases in the city.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said that Ukraine carried out attacks with missiles and drones targeting the cities of Kursk and Belgorod in western Russia, but fired air weapons. The governor of the Kursk region, Roman Starovoit, said that the city of Tetkino, on the border with Ukraine, was hit by mortar shells.
The leader of neighboring Belarus, an ally of Russia, said on Saturday that Ukraine had launched rockets at military targets in Belarus a few days ago, but all were blocked by air defense systems. President Alexander Lukashenko described the alleged attack as a provocation and stated that the Belarusian army is not fighting in Ukraine.
There has been no reaction from the Ukrainian army yet.
Belarus is home to Russian military units and was used as a springboard for a Russian invasion. Last week, just hours before Lukashenko met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russia’s long-range bombers launched the first missile at Ukraine from Belarusian airspace.
Until now, Lukashenka has resisted attempts to drag his army into battle. During his talks, however, Putin announced Russia’s plan to supply Belarus with the Iskander-M missile system, reminding Lukashenko that his government is dependent on economic support from Russia.
“Ukraine says we are protected, but what kind of protection is that?” Asked a man who didn’t name the AP.
“They knelt before this Biden – let him die!” exclaimed her neighbor Tatyana, referring to US President Joe Biden. https://t.co/WHcKMopc6s
– Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) July 3, 2022
Reported by Ebel from Prokovsk, Ukraine.
Source: Breitbart
