"The advance on Lisichansk continues. Combat is already in progress inside the settlement. It is too early to say how much of the city is already under our control, but the advance of the joint forces inside the city is rather active," the source said.
LPR People’s Militia Officer Andrey Marochko also said Saturday that "several city enterprises have been taken under control."
Earlier, LPR Interior Minister Aide Vitaly Kisilyov told TASS that Ukrainian forces attempt to break out of Lisichansk in small groups, but these attempts are being thwarted. According to Kisilyov, some 4,500 Ukrainian servicemen will be encircled under Lisichansk. On Friday, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said that Russian forces under command of Colonel General Alexander Lapin blocked Lisichansk from the south.
Ukraine is regrouping its forces from the rubble of the city of Severodonetsk to higher ground in neighbouring Lysychansk to gain a tactical advantage over Russia, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency has said.
ReplyDeleteIn an interview in Kyiv, Kyrylo Budanov, told Reuters news agency that Ukrainian forces would continue their defence of that front from Lysychansk in eastern Ukraine and that it was no longer possible to hold the line in Severodonetsk.
“The activities happening in the area of Severodonetsk are a tactical regrouping of our troops. This is a withdrawal to advantageous positions to obtain a tactical advantage,” said, Budanov, head of the Defence Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine.