Lysychansk fell to Russia last week, signaling the fall of the last major Ukrainian stronghold in the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic. The city was in the center of the prolonged battle between Russian and Ukrainian forces which saw the city along with its twin Severodonetsk turn into rubble.
Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu apprised Russian president Vladimir Putin of the capture saying with the Luhansk People’s Republic militia’s aid Russia now fully controls Luhansk.
Ukrainian officials revealed that troops withdrew from Lysychansk to avoid being encircled.
The fall of Lysychansk and the eventual capture of Luhansk shows that Moscow found some success after it shifted its focus to capturing neighbor’s east. It was towards the end of March that Russia shifted its focus from Kyiv to capturing Ukraine’s east and cutting off Ukraine from Black Sea.
Russia claims it captured 182 square kilometers in recent weeks, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Wall Street Journal reported that Russia is planning to push towards Siversk, Slovyansk and Bakhmut in the Donetsk region citing the Institute for the Study of War.
Luhansk’s Ukrainian governor Serhiy Haidai who for weeks has provided updates on the progress of the war in the region said despite losses Russian forces have advanced ‘stubbornly’.
Haidai refuted Russian claims of Lysychansk’s fall, like Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, saying that an attack on Bilohorivka, a small settlement a few miles from Lysychansk.
Haidai also said the fight for Lysychansk was far more brutal than the battle for Severodonetsk, which left the city in ruins.
“If in Severodonetsk there were surviving houses and administrative buildings during a month of street fighting, then in Lysychansk the same administrative buildings were completely destroyed in a short period of time,” Haidai posted on Telegram on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Russia has already begun striking areas in Donetsk. The WSJ report citing Ukrainian officials said Russia hit Slovyansk and Kramatorsk – two major cities in the Donetsk region – with missiles. Both cities are under Ukrainian control.
At least six people died and 15 others were injured due to the strikes in Slovyansk, Tetyana Ignatchenko, a spokeswoman for the Donetsk region said. Oleksandr Honcharenko, the mayor of Kramatorsk, said even if there were no casualties, the city’s infrastructure was badly impacted due to the strikes.
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