In control of Luhansk region: Russian minister

Kyiv, July 3

Russia’s Defence Minister said Russian forces on Sunday took control of the last major Ukrainian-held city in Luhansk province, bringing Moscow closer to its stated goal of seizing all of Ukraine’s Donbas region.

Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told President Vladimir Putin that Russia’s troops together with members of a local separatist militia “have established full control over the city of Lysychansk”, Russian news agencies reported.

6 killed in Sloviansk

• Six persons were killed in Sloviansk after the city was hit by shelling from Russian multiple rocket launchers, officials said
• The attack caused nearly 15 fires in the front line city in the industrial Donbas region that Russia is trying to capture
• Donetsk regional administration spokeswoman Tetiana Ihnatchenko said 15 persons had been wounded in the attack. — Reuters

Ukrainian fighters spent weeks trying to defend Lysychansk and to keep it from falling to Russia, as neighbouring Sievierodonetsk did a week ago. A presidential adviser predicted late Saturday that the city’s could be determined within days. Ukrainian officials did not immediately provide an update on its status. Earlier on Sunday, Luhansk’s Governor said Russian forces were strengthening their positions. “The occupiers threw all their forces on Lysychansk. They attacked the city with incomprehensibly cruel tactics,” Luhansk’s Governor Serhiy Haidai said on an app. “They suffer significant losses, but stubbornly advance. They are gaining a foothold in the city.”

A river separates Lysychansk from Sievierodonetsk. Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to the Ukrainian President, said during an online interview late Saturday that Russian forces had managed for the first time to cross the river from the north, creating a “threatening” situation. — AP

Australia’s PM visits Kyiv region

Kyiv: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (in pic right) visited three war-ravaged towns in Ukraine’s Kyiv region, the local governor said on Sunday. Governor Oleksiy Kuleba wrote on Telegram that Albanese visited the towns of Bucha, Irpin and Hostomel, where Ukraine says Russia committed atrocities against civilians. Russia denies the allegations. “Australia supports Ukraine and wants to see justice meted out for the crimes committed here,” Kuleba quoted Albanese as saying. — Reuters

Doorway to Donetsk

Taking Lysychansk would open the way for the Russians forces to move west into Donetsk province, where the sizable Ukrainian-held city of Slovyansk has come under rocket attacks several times since invasion