Russia: Pro-Russia rebels claim to have encircled key city of Lysychansk, Ukraine denies
Fighting raged Saturday for Ukraine’s strategic Lysychansk, as Kyiv denied a claim by Moscow-backed separatists that they had encircled the eastern city.
Clashes have been intense in Lysychansk, the last major city in the Luhansk region of the Donbas still in Ukrainian hands, located across the river from neighbouring Severodonetsk seized by Russia last week.
The city’s capture would allow Russian forces to push deeper into the battleground Donbas region, which has become the focus of their offensive since failing to capture Kyiv after invading in late February.
“Fighting rages around Lysychansk … The city has not been encircled and is under control of the Ukrainian army,” Ruslan Muzytchuk, a spokesman for the Ukrainian National Guard, said on Ukrainian television.