Russia’s Defense Minister said on Sunday that Kremlin forces controlled the entire Lugansk region after conquering Lysychansk.
He is “impossible to say that Lysytchansk is under controlRussian, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday, assuring that the fighting continued on the outskirts of this city, the capture of which was claimed earlier by Moscow.
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“There’s fighting in the suburbsof this city, under pressure from Russian troops for several weeks, he added during a press conference in kyiv with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Taking Lysychansk in eastern Ukraine would allow Moscow to control the entire Lugansk region and Russian troops to threaten Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, two major cities in the Ukrainian-controlled Donbass industrial region.
“There are risks that the Lugansk region will be completely occupied. There are risks and we understand it“, added Mr. Zelensky, believing that Lysytchansk represents “the most difficult and dangerous situationfor Ukraine. “We don’t have the advantage there, it’s true. It is our weak point but in other points, we advance“, he said.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Sunday that Kremlin forces controlled the entire Lugansk region after conquering Lysychansk, which has been in the midst of intense fighting for weeks.