July 5, 2022: -On Sunday, Russia said its forces had seized control of Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region following capturing the previous Ukrainian holdout of Lysychansk in heavy fighting. Nevertheless, Ukraine did not verify the claim.

Control of Luhansk, a critical war aim for Russia, would come after weeks of slow advances, hand Moscow a little political win, and shift the battlefield focus to the neighboring Donetsk region, where Ukraine still controls substantial territory.

Driven back from the Ukrainian capital Kyiv after its invasion on February 24, Russia has concentrated its military campaign on the Donbas, including Luhansk and Donetsk. Moscow-backed separatist proxies have been struggling since Russia’s foremost military intervention in Ukraine in 2014.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu informed President Vladimir Putin that Luhansk had lived “liberated,” the defense ministry said after Russia once said its forces had captured villages around Lysychansk encircled the city.

The minister told Russian forces, and their allies in the area had “gained full authority over the city of Lysychansk.”

Yuriy Sak, an advisor to the defense minister of Ukraine, told Reuters over the phone that he “cannot confirm that Lysychansk is under full Russian control.” Ukraine’s defense ministry press service did not comment.

Ukrainian officials, who say references to “liberating” Ukrainian territory are Russian war propaganda, had reported intense artillery barrages on residential areas.

“Ukrainian forces likely conducted a planned withdrawal from Lysychansk, resulting in the Russian seizure of the city on July 2,” analysts at the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, wrote in a briefing note.

They based their assessment on footage showing Russian forces walking casually in northern and eastern neighborhoods of Lysychansk, saying it suggested few or no Ukrainian troops remained. It said the footage contained images posted on social media and geolocated to confirm where it was filmed.

West of Lysychansk, the Ukrainian city of Sloviansk was struck by powerful shelling from multiple missile launchers on Sunday. The city’s mayor Vadim Lyakh said numerous people were killed and wounded.