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News|Russia-Ukraine war

Ukraine-Russia live news: Ukraine separatists encircle Lysychansk

Andrei Marotchko, a spokesman for the separatist forces, says Lugansk popular militia and Russian forces occupied last strategic heights

Smoke rises from the city of Severodonetsk in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas on June [File: Aris Messinis/AFP]

By Arwa Ibrahim

Published On 2 Jul 20222 Jul 2022

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Updated: 

4 minutes ago

(Al Jazeera)

Ukrainian separatists backed by Russia say they had “completely” encircled the key city of Lysychansk in the eastern Lugansk region.

Russian forces have destroyed five Ukrainian army command posts in the Donbas and in the Mykolaiv region with high-precision weapons and also struck three storage sites in the Zaporizhia region, the defence ministry says.

The mayor of Ukrainian city Mykolaiv warns residents to stay in shelters as powerful explosions rock the city.

Moscow denies targeting civilians in Ukraine with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov telling reporters that Russian Armed Forces “do not work with civilian targets”.

The United States is sending Ukraine two NASAMS surface-to-air missile systems, four additional counter-artillery radars and up to 150,000 rounds of 155mm artillery ammunition as part of its latest weapons packages for Ukraine. 

Here are the latest updates:

14 mins ago (12:45 GMT)

Ukraine separatists claim they have encircled Lysychansk

Ukrainian separatists backed by Russia have said they had “completely” encircled the key city of Lysychansk in the eastern Lugansk region,

“Today the Lugansk popular militia and Russian forces occupied the last strategic heights, which allows us to confirm that Lysychansk is completely encircled,” Andrei Marotchko, a spokesman for the separatist forces, told the TASS news agency.

Capturing the city would allow the Russians to push deeper into the wider eastern region of the Donbas, which has become the focus of their offensive since failing to capture Kyiv after launching their military operation in Ukraine in late February.

Across the Donets river, the Russians captured the neighboring city Severodonetsk last week.