Russia-Ukraine crisis live updates | Ukraine withdraws from Lysychansk as Russia claims control of Luhansk

Ukraine’s forces have withdrawn from the bombed-out city of Lysychansk, prompting Russia to claim full control of the eastern Luhansk region, a key Kremlin war goal, but President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed to regain the lost territory.

Ukraine on Sunday said the tactical withdrawal would save the lives of its soldiers who would regroup, to launch a counter offensive with the help of long-range Western weapons.

But Moscow said the capture of Lysychansk less than a week after taking neighbouring Sievierdonetsk meant it had “liberated” Luhansk. It said it will give Luhansk to the self-proclaimed Russian-backed Luhansk People’s Republic whose independence it recognised on the eve of the war.

Explained | The impact of the Ukraine-Russia crisis on global agricultural markets

The battlefield focus now shifts to the neighbouring Donetsk region, where Kyiv still controls swathes of territory.

Here are the latest updates:

LUHANSK

Fighting continues in pockets of Luhansk: Governor

Some isolated fighting continues in two villages of Luhansk region where Russia is yet to establish control, the Luhansk governor  Serhiy Haidai told Reuters.

He added that Ukraine “could have continued” defence of Lysychansk but its forces would have been surrounded and pounded by Russian heavy artillery.

“Russia’s focus will now shift to Donetsk region, and to Sloviansk and Bakhmut in particular,” he said.

MOSCOW

Western firms struggle to exit Russia

For foreign companies still working out what to do with their stranded Russian assets, President Vladimir Putin’s seizure of a major oil and gas project is a powerful warning: Move fast or else.

Companies have been wrestling with how to exit in ways that limit the financial impact, do not put employees at risk and, in some cases, offer the opportunity to return in future.

More than a thousand Western companies have joined a corporate exodus from Russia – unprecedented in its scale and speed – as they scramble to comply with sanctions and amid threats of retaliation from the Kremlin.

The obstacles are huge: confusion has swirled over what the Kremlin would allow foreign companies to do; staff are nervous after government threats of retaliation; sanctions have limited the pool of buyers and there is little time to check them out; sales prices have been steeply discounted; and negotiations are being done virtually because fears of reprisals make it too risky to visit Russia in person.

With Moscow preparing a new law that is expected to come into force soon allowing it to take control of the local businesses of Western companies that decide to leave, the stakes are getting higher. – Reuters

KYIV

Military base hit

Ukraine said its air force had flown some 15 sorties “in virtually all directions of hostilities”, destroying equipment and two ammunition depots.

In the Russian-occupied southern Ukrainian city of Melitopol, Ukrainian forces hit a military logistics base with more than 30 strikes on Sunday, the city’s exiled mayor Ivan Fedorov said. A Russian-installed official confirmed that strikes had hit the city. – Reuters

MOSCOW

Costly campaign

Thousands of civilians have been killed and cities levelled since Russia invaded on Feb 24, with Kyiv accusing Moscow of deliberately targeting civilians. Moscow denies this.

Russia says what it calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine aims to protect Russian speakers from nationalists. Ukraine and its Western allies say this is a baseless pretext for flagrant aggression that aims to seize territory.

While Russia would try to frame its advance in Luhansk as a significant moment in the war, it came at a high cost to Russia’s military, said Neil Melvin of the London-based think tank RUSI.

“Ukraine’s position was never that they could defend all of this. What they’ve been trying to do is to slow down the Russian assault and cause maximum damage, while they build up for a counteroffensive,” he said. – Reuters

MOSCOW

Russian defence minister tells Putin Ukraine’s Luhansk region has been ‘liberated’

Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu informed President Vladimir Putin that all of Ukraine’s Luhansk region had been “liberated” by Russian and separatist forces, the defence ministry said on Sunday.

After being beaten back in its initial attempt to capture the capital Kyiv, Russia has focused its efforts on driving Ukrainian forces out of Luhansk and Donetsk regions in the east of the country, where Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting Kyiv since Russia’s first military intervention in Ukraine in 2014. – Reuters