The city of Severodonetsk in Donbass, the scene of fierce clashes between the Ukrainian army and Russian military forces for several weeks, is fully controlled by the Russian army, the city's mayor Oleksandr Stryuk announced.
The Ukrainian army announced yesterday its retreat from the city which had 100,000 inhabitants before the Russian invasion to better organise the defence of the neighbouring city of Lysychansk.
The mayor said residents who had taken refuge in the Azot factory to escape the shelling had begun to come out. Some of them have spent the last three months in the basements, he explained.
A spokesman for the pro-Russian separatists confirmed that residents who had taken refuge in the factory were being evacuated, without specifying in which direction.
With the capture of Severodonetsk, Russian forces now have almost complete control of the Luhansk region after weeks of fierce fighting, while street battles are also taking place in neighbouring Lysychansk.
Source: Proto Thema
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