Ukraine has ordered the withdrawal of its troops from the embattled city of Severodonetsk in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine, Luhansk Governor Serhii Haidai announced on Friday, transmits MIA.
Severodonetsk has been the subject for fierce fighting between Ukrainian forces and the Russian military alongside pro-Russian separatists from the Donbass region for weeks, and was the last major city in the Luhansk region still partially under Ukrainian control.
Its loss effectively means that the entire Donbass region of eastern Ukraine is now under Russian control, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s key aims in the conflict once it became clear that his invasion of Ukraine was stalling in the first weeks of the campaign.
