Russia-ukraine fighting has been going on for more than four months. Continuing the momentum of recent days, the Russian army has further squeezed the Ukrainian space in Luhansk. There is only one remaining city in luhansk that is not yet under Russian control.
A secret base for foreign mercenaries in Ukraine was revealed by the BBC on Thursday. The base is housed in a World War II-era air raid bunker. Foreign mercenaries told reporters that they were dissatisfied with the way weapons were distributed.
On June 23, a former U.S. Marine posted a video via social media that provides a first-look look at foreign mercenaries fighting Russian forces in North Donetsk. The mercenary revealed that the fighting lasted for more than six hours. According to the Wall Street Journal, the video may show the last fighting of foreign mercenaries in North Donetsk, because about 10 hours after it was released, Ukrainian officials announced that Ukrainian troops stationed in north Donetsk had been ordered to leave. Local officials say the entire evacuation operation could last several days.
It was not immediately clear how many people the Ukrainian army had evacuated, or how it could carry out a large-scale evacuation when all Bridges were destroyed. At one point, Ukrainian troops outside the city had resupplied the defenders by rubber dinghies and even by swimming. The withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Northern Donetsk means that Lichchansk, across the river, is the only city in Luhansk still under Ukrainian control.
In recent days, the area south of Licychansk has become the focus of contention between both sides. In the mining area of Gorskoye, Luhansk forces first fired tanks and then sent infantry units into buildings. A group of Ukrainian soldiers tried to break out, but were repelled by snipers who had been lying in wait. On The 24th, luhansk armed forces declared that they had taken full control of zolote and Gorskoye, towns south of Licychansk, and held flag-raising ceremonies in front of the government buildings of the two towns. The Russian Defense Ministry said that about 2,000 Ukrainian troops were surrounded in this direction, and 41 surrendered in the previous 24 hours.
The Russian defense Ministry said it had sealed off the city from the south. This claim is backed up by the latest battlefield maps released by Ukrainian media. From Zolote to Gorskoye, from Toshkovka to Milnadolina, the New York Times wrote, the names are hard to find on many maps. But the fall of these villages and towns in a matter of days meant that the Ukrainian line around Lichchansk was rapidly losing ground. However, Ukrainian officials hinted that the current situation is "all according to plan."