MOSCOW (dpa-AFX) – According to its own statements, Russia’s military is advancing in the heavily contested eastern Ukrainian city of Lysychansk. The oil refinery in the Luhansk Oblast city is now under Russian and pro-Russian control, Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Friday. The Ukrainian side, on the other hand, continued to describe the Raffineriegelende in the morning as contested.
The Ukrainians suffered heavy casualties in and around Lysychansk, Konashenkov said. Most recently, around 200 enemy soldiers were killed each day. “A disorganized withdrawal of individual units of the Ukrainian armed forces from Lysychansk can be observed.” This information could not be independently verified.
Lysychansk is the last major place in Luhansk Oblast still held by Ukrainian troops. The conquest of the area is one of Moscow’s declared goals in the war that has been going on for more than four months. Last week, the Ukrainian military had to give up the city of Sievjerodonetsk, which is only separated from Lyssychansk by a river./haw/DP/stk