Smoke billows over an oil refinery outside Lysychansk on June 23, 2022. (ANATOLII STEPANOV / AFP)
BEIJING – Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has informed President Vladimir Putin that the region of Lugansk has been "liberated", the Defense Ministry said Sunday.
The region fell after Russian troops and the armed forces of Lugansk took full control of Lysychansk, a key city of Lugansk, and its nearby settlements, according to a brief statement by the ministry.
Lugansk was "liberated" after Russian troops and the armed forces of Lugansk took full control of Lysychansk, a key city of Lugansk, and its nearby settlements, according to a brief statement from the Russian Defense Ministry
Shoigu told Putin that the total area of territories taken over the past day amounted to 182 square km, it added.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held a meeting with visiting Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to discuss security cooperation, the presidential press service reported.
During the talks, Zelensky informed Albanese of the situation on the frontline in Ukraine, while the Australian prime minister announced more military-technical assistance to Ukraine, according the report.
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Also on Sunday, the Russian Defense Ministry said Ukraine launched an attack using Tochka-U ballistic missiles with cluster munitions and Tu-143 Reys unmanned aerial vehicles on residential areas in the southern cities of Belgorod and Kursk.
The Russian air defense destroyed all three missiles, the ministry said, adding that fragments of one of the destroyed missiles fell down on a residential building in Belgorod.