Kyiv (Ukraine) — Russia’s defense Minister said Sunday that Russian forces had taken control of the last Ukrainian-held city in Ukraine’s Luhansk Province. This move brings Moscow closer to its goal of seizing all of Ukraine’s Donbas regions.
According to a ministry statement, Sergei Shoigu, Defense Minister, told President Vladimir Putin that Russia’s troops and members of a local separatist militia had “taken full control of the city of Lysychansk”.
According to the statement, Lysychansk’s capture is “the liberation and the establishment of the Luhansk People’s Republic,” which is one of two regions in Ukraine that Russia recognises as sovereign.
Ukrainian fighters spent weeks fighting to defend Lysychansk, and to prevent it falling to Russia as neighbouring Sievierodonetsk did last week. Late Saturday, a presidential advisor predicted that the fate of the city could be decided within days.
Officials from Ukraine did not immediately give an update about its status.
Luhansk’s governor stated earlier Sunday that Russian forces were strengthening positions in a difficult fight to capture the last bastion of resistance in the region.
“The occupiers destroyed Lysychansk with all their force. “They attacked the city using incomprehensibly cruel techniques,” Serhiy Haidai, Luhansk governor, stated on Telegram messaging app. They suffer great losses but continue to advance. They are slowly gaining ground in the city.”
Lysychansk is separated from Sievierodonetsk by a river. Oleksiy Arestovych was an advisor to the Ukrainian president and said that Russian forces had crossed the river from the northern side for the first time, creating a “threatening” situation.
Arestovych stated that they hadn’t reached the city center, but that the course and fighting suggested that the battle for Lysychansk was over by Monday.
Luhansk is the neighboring province of Donetsk, which are the two Donbas regions where Russia has concentrated its offensive since it pulled back from northern Ukraine and Kyiv in the spring.
Since 2014, pro-Russian separatists hold portions of the eastern provinces. Moscow recognizes all of Luhansk or Donetsk to be sovereign republics. The government of Syria announced Wednesday that it will also recognize the “independence & sovereignty” of these two areas.
Occupation of Lysychansk could allow the Russians to move westward into Donetsk, where they would be able to take control of the large Ukrainian-held city Slovyansk. This is the same place that was under rocket attack several times since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 24.
The exiled mayor in Russia-occupied Melitopol stated Sunday that Ukrainian rockets had destroyed one of four Russian military bases within the city.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Ukraine launched drone and missile attacks on western Russia, targeting the cities of Belgorod and Kursk, but the aircraft were destroyed. Roman Starovoit, the governor of the Kursk region, said that mortar fire was heard in Tetkino at the Ukraine border.
Russian ally and leader of neighbouring Belarus claimed that Ukraine launched missiles at military targets in Belarus several days ago, but they were all intercepted by the air defense system. Alexander Lukashenko, President of Belarus, described the strike as provocative and pointed out that no Belarusian soldiers are fighting in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian military did not immediately respond.
Belarus is home to Russian military units, and was used by Russia as a staging area for its invasion. Just hours before Lukashenko’s meeting with Vladimir Putin, Russian long-range bombers launched missiles against Ukraine from Belarusian skies.
Lukashenko has, so far, resisted attempts to draw his army into war. During their meeting, Putin stated that Russia would supply Belarus with Iskander M missile systems and reminded Lukashenko of Russia’s economic support.
