After fierce fighting, Ukrainian forces entered Lysychansk (population: 104,314) on morning July 25th, 2014, and raised Ukraine's flag on the municipal building flagpole.
The press service of Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko has announced that Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers hoisted a Ukrainian flag above the city administration building in the city of Lysychansk, Luhansk region.
Together with (earlier liberated) cities of Sieverodonetsk, Rubizhne, Kreminna and the nearest towns, the Lysychansk area constitutes a major urban and industrialized hub of the Donets basin area.
During the 2014 pro-Russian conflict in Ukraine the town was captured early April 2014 by pro-Russian separatists. On 22 July 2014 news agencies reported that the separatists "massively leave Lysychansk" with "seized cars from the population and in parking lots"; Russian ITAR-TASS reported the same day that the separatists had "decided to leave the town in order to save the population and stop clashes". The next day heavy fighting continued around the town while the Ukrainian National Guard and the Ukrainian army released a statement that stated "the military plan to free Lysychansk, Luhansk region, from terrorist groups in the near future". On 24 July 2014 the Ukrainian army claimed its troops had entered first city blocks of Lysychansk and its Col. Andriy Lysenko stated "We will take the town, and the road will be open to Horlivka, then Donetsk".
In early morning hours of July 25, Director of the Center for Military and Political Studies and coordinator of the Information Resistance group, Dmytro Tymchuk, announced this on his page on Facebook:
"The ATO forces are finishing measures on the cleansing of Lysychansk. The town is completely controlled by Ukrainian security forces," Tymchuk said.
Ukrainian forces drove their armoured vehicles through the streets of Lysychansk, July 25
The anti-terrorist operation (ATO) forces are finishing the operation to cleanse Lysychansk of terrorists, and the town is now fully controlled by Ukrainian security forces.
A post on a social-media account associated with pro-Russian rebel media leader Igor Girkin, who is best known by the norm de guerre Igor Strelkov, confirmed that fighters with the "Ghost Battalion" militia headed by leading insurgent Alexei Mozgovoi had pulled back to the nearby city of Stakhanov.
The Ukrainian military has made several key gains in the past week, taking back 10 towns and nearly surrounding the vital rebel-held cities of Luhansk and Donetsk, Ukraine's National Security and Defense council said. On Friday, soldiers raised the country's flag above Lysychansk after pushing out a powerful militia headed by a top rebel commander, it said.
"The armed forces of Ukraine have been able to deal the rebels powerful blows on several fronts," council spokesman Col. Andriy Lysenko said.
NSDC explain why Lysychansk liberation lasts so long
Due to the fact that President Petro Poroshenko ordered not to open fire from heavy artillery and aircrafts at settlements, the ground forces liberate cities street by street solely using small arms.
The spokesman for the information and analytical center of the Ukrainian National Security and Defence Council (NSDC), Andriy Lysenko, said this at a briefing in Kyiv on Thursday, July 24.
"That's because it's impossible to use heavy vehicles there, this operation has a protracted nature," Lysenko said.
At the same time, he said, the terrorists have already weakened and Lysychansk will soon be liberated by Ukrainian troops. "We have opened the way towards Horlivka, and then directly towards Donetsk," Lysenko said.
After the liberation of Lysychansk the major forces of the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) will be directed to Horlivka as a strategic point on the way to Donetsk.
Ukrainian government troops now heading to Horlivka, another rebel stronghold.
Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) spokesman Andriy Lysenko said this at a briefing in Kyiv on Friday, a Ukrinform correspondent reported.
"As soon as the Horlivka group is neutralized, there appears a direct path to the regional center - Donetsk. The ATO forces will be blocking Donetsk from other sides to prevent militants from leaving the city or getting reinforcements from the border," Lysenko said.
According to him, the ATO demonstrates a remarkable progress that is constantly increasing, because "almost every day settlements are liberated."
At the same time, these victories are very hard to achieve, because the Russian mercenaries have extensive military experience and are perfectly equipped.
"To say that it is very easy to achieve is untrue. We are dealing with very experienced people who have come from Russia. This is the mercenaries who have extensive combat experience, but they do not stand up even with help of the Russian assistance, and the people whom they forced to take up arms and forced along with them to oppose the ATO forces," Lysenko said.
Ukrainian forces in Lysychansk, July 25 2014.
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