Finance
After weeks of fighting, Russia’s army has “fully occupied” the key Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk, according to its mayor, as Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow would be able to send nuclear-capable missiles to Belarus within months.
The capture of the industrial hub of Severodonetsk is a significant strategic victory for Moscow as it seeks complete control of the country’s east.
It has been the site of weeks of fighting, but the Ukrainian army announced on Friday that its outmanned forces would withdraw to better defend the neighboring city of Lysychansk.
“The Russians have completely occupied the city,” said Mayor Oleksandr Striuk on Saturday.
Pro-Moscow separatists claimed that Russian troops and their allies had entered Lysychansk, which faces Severodonetsk across the river.
“Street fighting is currently taking place,” said a separatist representative on Telegram, in a claim that could not be independently verified.
As he received Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in Saint Petersburg on Saturday, Putin stated that Russia would deliver Iskander-M missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads to Belarus in the coming months.
Source:HT
