Ukrainian troops withdrawing from Severodonetsk
The head of the military regional administration of the Luhansk region, Serhiy Haidai, said that Ukrainian troops would have to leave Severodonetsk.
"Unfortunately, we will have to withdraw our military from Severodonetsk, because it makes no sense to stay at the broken positions. The death toll is growing," Haidai wrote.
According to him, the Russians have been bombing the city daily for four months. 90% of the buildings have been destroyed or damaged. The Ukrainian military was given "the command to withdraw to new positions, to new fortified areas" in order to conduct combat operations from there.
In addition, Haidai said that the Russians captured Mykolaivka, a village south-west of Lysychansk, near the Bakhmut- Lysychansk road.
According to the representative of the "people's militia" of the Luhansk militants, Andrey Marochko, the villages of Hirske and Zolote south of Lysychansk also came under the control of the self-proclaimed Luhansk republic. "The Victory Banner is already flying on the former building of the military-civil administration of Zolote," he said.
According to the Ukrainian General Staff, the Russian troops are now trying to advance towards Lysychansk.
Russia also continues shelling and has "intensified the actions of sabotage and reconnaissance groups" near Kharkiv.