Russia claims full capture of Ukraine’s Luhansk province

Russia has claimed its forces have taken full control of Luhansk province in eastern Ukraine, after capturing the final Ukrainian holdout of Lysychansk. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu informed President Vladimir Putin that Luhansk had been “liberated”, the defence ministry said on Sunday, using a term Ukrainians have dismissed as war propaganda. Russia earlier said its forces had captured villages around Lysychansk and encircled the city.News of the capture of Lisichansk comes after Ukrainian troops retreated from Severodonetsk, a nearby city on the opposite side of the Seversky Donets River, last week.

Seizing Lysychansk brings Russia extremely close to capturing Luhansk Oblast, one of the two administrative regions that make up the Donbas region, where Moscow has focused its offensive since withdrawing from northern Ukraine and Kyiv area in spring.https://t.co/hUy40LjBvE

— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) July 3, 2022

Ukraine’s military confirmed that its forces had withdrawn from Lysychansk. “The continuation of the defence of the city would lead to fatal consequences. In order to preserve the lives of Ukrainian defenders, a decision was made to withdraw,” it said in a statement on social media on Sunday.