DUkraine has denied Russian claims that the city of Lysychansk in the east of the country had been captured by Russia. The city is not under full Russian control, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense in Kyiv told the BBC on Sunday. However, the situation has been “very intense” for some time now, with Russian troops constantly attacking the city.
“For Ukrainians, the value of human life is the top priority,” the spokesman said. “Therefore, we might sometimes withdraw from certain areas in order to retake them in the future.” Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu had previously said Russia has complete control over Lysychansk and the entire Luhansk Oblast.
The Ukrainian ministry spokesman said Donbass would not be lost even if Russia conquered all of Luhansk. There are other large cities there, especially in the Donetsk region, which are under Ukrainian control. “These cities have been the target of heavy rocket attacks and artillery shelling in recent days. But the fight for Donbass is not over yet.”
More than 100,000 people lived in Lysychansk before the start of the war. The neighboring city of Sievjerodonetsk had already been conquered by Russia. The war has now lasted more than four months.
The conquest of Luhansk and, most recently, Lyssychansk in particular, was one of Russia’s most important war goals. The Luhansk and Donetsk Oblasts in Ukraine form the Donbass. In recent weeks, the Russian offensive has focused primarily on completely dominating the area, parts of which pro-Russian separatists have taken control of since 2014. After grueling fighting, they recently managed to take the neighboring city of Sieverodonetsk across the river from Lysychansk.
Combat operations were also reported from other parts of the country. According to the Defense Ministry in Moscow, Russian troops struck military infrastructure in Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine. In the south, on the outskirts of Mykolaiv, a base used by foreign fighters was hit.
Ukraine, on the other hand, reported that it had destroyed a military base with more than 30 hits from the air in the Russian-held city of Melitopol in the south of the country. The administrative authority appointed by Russia said that while there were no casualties, several private homes near an airfield were hit.