Lysychansk was the last major city not in Russian hands in the Luhansk region, one of two Donbass provinces and the “epicenter” of the fighting, in the words of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
While reports were conflicting on Sunday morning, with Ukrainians claiming fighting continued in Lysychansk, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu claimed late morning that Kremlin forces had captured the city and controlled the entire Luhansk region. . ” Sergei Shoigu informed Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armed Forces Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin about the liberation of the Luhansk People’s Republic “Said a statement from the Ministry of Defense. Russian forces and their separatist allies have taken complete control of Lyssychansk and other nearby towns, the most notable of which are Belogorovka, Novodrujesk, Maloriazantsevo and Belaya Gora “, adds this press release.
Agence France-Presse (AFP) indicated that it was unable to verify this information from an independent source. The Ukrainians have not yet reacted to this information.
Moscow accuses Ukraine of launching missiles against Belgorod, Russia
A little earlier, the Russian army had claimed to have shot down at dawn three Ukrainian missiles launched against the city of Belgorod, near Ukraine. ” Russian anti-aircraft defenses shot down the three Tochka-U cluster missiles launched by Ukrainian nationalists against Belgorod. After the destruction of Ukrainian missiles, the remains of one of them fell on a house said Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov.
In a video released midday on Sunday, Belgorod Region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said at least four people were killed and four injured in the attack. In early April, the governor accused Ukraine of carrying out an attack on a fuel depot in the city with two helicopters.
Several strikes in Melitopol, under Russian control
In southern Ukraine this time, overnight from Saturday to Sunday, the Ukrainian army ” decommissioned a Russian military base in Melitopol, a city controlled by Moscow forces, its exiled mayor announced. “ Today the Ukrainian military forces decommissioned one of the Russian military bases from the city, Ivan Fedorov said in a video posted on Telegram messaging. ” At 3 a.m. and 5 a.m., 30 strikes targeted the military base exclusively “, he added, specifying that “ the city of Melitopol is covered in smoke and that “it has been going on for several hours because a fuel depot that was on the base is burning”.
A spokesman for the Ukrainian general staff had announced on Sunday morning that the Ukrainian air force had carried out about fifteen sorties, in particular in the region of Zaporijjia to which Melitopol belongs, and “ than twenty units of enemy equipment and two ammunition depots had been destroyed. Melitopol was conquered by Russian forces in the early days of Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine and a pro-Russian administration was quickly installed there.
