RUSSIA CLAIMS CAPTURE OF LUHANSK REGION

Sun 03 July 2022:

Russia’s defence minister says Moscow’s forces have taken control of the last major Ukrainian-held city in Ukraine’s Luhansk province.

Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told President Vladimir Putin on Sunday that as a result of successful military operations, the armed forces of the Russian Federation, together with units of the People’s Militia of the Luhansk People’s Republic, have established full control over the city of Lysychansk, Russian news agencies reported.

Ukrainian fighters spent weeks trying to defend Lysychansk and to keep it from falling to Russia, as neighbouring Sievierodonetsk did a week ago. A presidential adviser predicted late Saturday that the city’s could be determined within days.

Prior to that, Luhansk Governor Serhiy Haidai had written on his Telegram account: “The Russians are strengthening their positions in the Lysychansk area, the city is on fire …They attacked the city with inexplicably brutal tactics.”

Meanwhile, the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, wrote in a briefing note that “Ukrainian forces likely conducted a deliberate withdrawal from Lysychansk, resulting in the Russian seizure of the city on July 2”.

While Russia’s superior firepower has aided its advance, the Institute for the Study of War noted in its briefing that Russian forces are likely to have a difficult time advancing in Donetsk beyond the cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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