Russia Claims It Has Encircled Key Eastern Ukrainian City Of Lysychansk
NDTV
Russia has focused on driving Ukrainian forces out of Luhansk and Donetsk regions in the Donbas.
Russian troops have encircled the eastern Ukrainian city of Lysychansk, Ukraine's last major stronghold in the Luhansk region, the Russian defence ministry said on Sunday.
Russia has focused on driving Ukrainian forces out of Luhansk and Donetsk regions in the Donbas, where Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting Kyiv since Russia's first military intervention in Ukraine in 2014.
The defence ministry said its troops had captured the villages surrounding Lysychansk, encircling the area, and were now fighting Ukrainian troops inside the town.
"Russian troops and units of the Luhansk People's Republic are fighting inside Lysychansk, completely defeating the encircled enemy," the ministry said in a statement.
