After weeks of fierce fighting, Kiev's forces withdrew from Lysychansk, the last bastion of Ukrainian resistance in Lugansk, the oblast that together with Donetsk forms the eastern Donbass region.
Russian forces are now advancing on the city of Seversk, in Donetsk oblast, "from two directions".
This was announced by the interior ministry of the self-proclaimed Republic of Lugansk, according to reports from the Russian agency Tass.
Meanwhile, Ukraine reiterates its conditions to sit at the table, first of all the ceasefire.
THE SITUATION IN LYSYCHANSK
The Ukrainian army has announced its withdrawal from Lysychansk, the last stronghold of Kiev in the Lugansk oblast, in the east of the country, after weeks of hard fighting with Russian forces.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his traditional evening speech wanted to reassure his people by announcing that Ukrainian troops will return to Lysychansk thanks to the tactics and supply of modern weapons.
"We protect the lives of the soldiers and our people. We will rebuild the walls and reconquer the land and this also applies to Lysychansk", he said, where "we will return thanks to our tactics, increasing the supply of modern weapons".
About 8,000 civilians remained in Severodonetsk and about 10,000 in Lysychansk, which was permanently occupied by the Russians yesterday.
This was stated on Telegram by the Ukrainian governor of Lugansk Sergei Gaidai.
"We maintain the defense of a small part of the Lugansk region so that our military has time to build the defenses," said Gaidai.
Meanwhile, Russian troops bombed two locations last night
of the Dnipropetrovsk region
.
"It was a rough night in the Kryvyi Rih district. The enemy fired artillery at the communities of Zelenodolsk and Shyroke, hitting towns and villages," Valentyn Reznichenko, head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration, wrote in Telegram.
No casualties were reported, Ukrinform reports.
KIEV'S CONDITIONS
"Cease the fire. Withdrawal of Z-troops. Return of deported citizens. Extradition of war criminals. Compensation mechanism. Recognition of Ukraine's sovereign rights. The Russian counterpart knows our conditions well. Peskov need not worry, the time will come and we will record them on paper ".
These are the conditions for negotiation set out by the adviser to Ukrainian President Zelensky, Mykhailo Podolyak, who replied on twitter to the words of the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, who yesterday said that Ukraine "must understand the conditions of Russia, accept them, sit down at a negotiating table, and sign a document ".
THE POPE'S APPEAL
The European swimming championships can be "a reason to show even more forcefully our commitment to a world without wars, without hatred among peoples, without nuclear threat".
This was stated by the Pope in a message to the athletes who will participate in the competition in Rome in August.
"I think that you too, like me, are saddened because the shadow of the war in Ukraine weighs on this sporting event", added Francesco.