Russia claimed on Sunday to have captured the strategic Ukrainian city of Lysychansk and the entire frontline Lugansk region as a mayor said six people were killed by Russian shelling to the west.
The gains claimed by Russia would mark a decisive breakthrough for Moscow's forces seeking control of eastern Ukraine, more than four months into their invasion and after turning their focus away from the capital Kyiv.
Lysychansk had been the last major city in the Lugansk area of the Donbas still in Ukrainian hands and its capture would signal a deeper push into the eastern region."Sergei Shoigu has informed the commander in chief of the Russian armed forces, Vladimir Putin, of the liberation of the People's Republic of Lugansk," the Russian defence ministry said in a statement quoted by Russian news agencies.
The city of Siversk, 30 kilometres west of Lysychansk, saw overnight shelling, residents and an official told AFP."Fierce fighting continues along the entire frontline, in Donbas," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an address late Saturday, accusing"enemy activity" of"intensifying" in the wider region around Ukraine's second city of Kharkiv.
On Sunday, Moscow said its anti-aircraft defences shot down three Tochka-U cluster missiles launched by"Ukrainian nationalists" against Belgorod, close to the Ukrainian border.Russia has previously accused Kyiv of conducting strikes on Russian soil, particularly in the Belgorod region. Lukashenko denied any involvement in a recent cross-border incident, which would represent an escalation of the conflict."We do not intend to fight in Ukraine," he was quoted as saying by state news agency Belta on Saturday.
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