According to the announcement posted on social networking sites, if efforts to defend the city continued, the consequences would be “deadly”.
Ukrainian forces were forced to withdraw from the strategically important city of Lisitsansk, in eastern Ukraine, their last pocket of resistance in its periphery Luhanskthe command of the armed forces officially announced on Sunday evening.
According to the announcement posted on social networking sites, if efforts to defend the city continued, the consequences would be “deadly”.
“In order to preserve the lives of Ukrainian defenders, the decision was made to withdraw,” the text added.
Earlier, the representative of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense Yuri Sak he insisted, speaking to the BBC, that Lisitsansk is not entirely under Russian control.
He admitted, however, that the situation is difficult, and Russian forces attack the city non-stop. “For Ukrainians, the value of human life is a top priority, so sometimes we may retreat from certain areas to be able to regain them in the future,” he added.
He also noted that even if Russia takes all of Luhansk, that does not mean “the game is lost.” for Donbass. He noted that there are large areas in the Donbass, and especially in Donetsk, that are controlled by Ukrainian forces. There are “other large cities in the Donbas region, especially in the Donetsk region” that are under the control of the Ukrainian armed forces, the Ukrainian official said.
Over the past 24 hours, #Russian occupiers have carried out 24 strikes in the #Donetsk region and shelled 18 settlements.
According to the National Police of #Ukraine, 31 civilian objects were destroyed. Civilians were killed and wounded. pic.twitter.com/XZ72hw1RrJ
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) July 3, 2022
“These are cities that in the last two days [υπήρξαν] targets of serious missile attacks, artillery bombardments,” he said, “but the battle for Donbass is not over yet,” he repeated.
Shak added that Ukraine is optimistic and receiving support from its Western allies.
He expressed optimism that Ukraine would eventually amass a sufficient number of heavy artillery and other types of weapons “that will allow us to liberate our territories.”
According to the Ukrainian authorities, in the last 24 hours the Russians carried out 24 strikes in the Donetsk region and bombed 18 settlements. According to Ukrainian police, 31 civilian targets were destroyed, while civilians were killed and injured.
By RGloucester – Work of this uploader, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38891784
“Luhansk has been liberated”
The Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu earlier informed President Vladimir Putin that the entire Luhansk region has been “liberated” from Russian forces, as well as separatist forces, as the Ministry of Defense in Moscow announced today.
After the first attempt to capture Kiev failed, Russia focused its efforts on expelling Ukrainian military forces from the regions of Luhansk and Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, where Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting of Kiev, since the first Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2014.
At least six dead in Sloviansk
At least six people died in a Russian attack on Sloviansk, local officials said.
Donetsk regional administration spokeswoman Tetyana Ikhnachenko told Ukraine’s public news network that 15 people were injured in the attack.
The city’s mayor, Vadim Liakh, said on his Telegram channel that the attack was the worst to hit the city recently, and caused nearly 15 fires.
Kramatorsk, another city in the Donetsk region not captured by Russian forces, is also believed to have been shelled.
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