Ukrainian troops have been withdrawn from Lysichansk, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said. On the eve of the Russian Ministry of Defense announced the establishment of control over the territory of the "LNR".

“We protect the lives of our soldiers. We will rebuild the walls, we will win back the land, and people must be protected most of all. And if the command of our army takes people from certain points of the front, where the enemy has the greatest fire advantage, in particular, this applies to Lisichansk, this means only one thing: we will return thanks to our tactics and increasing the supply of modern weapons,” Zelensky said .

Earlier, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to Vladimir Putin that the armed forces had completely occupied the territory of the so-called LPR.

Ramzan Kadyrov was the first to tell about the situation in Lysichansk: “Lysichansk is completely surrounded by allied forces. <...> The enemy, in turn, has nowhere to go, since all entrances and exits from the city are blocked. Breaking through the dense ring of encirclement will not work, even if you try very hard.