MOSCOW, June 29. /TASS/. A third of the Ukrainian military have already surrendered near Lisichansk in the Lugansk People’s Republic, the LPR’s envoy to Russia said on Wednesday.
"There is active fighting near Lisichansk, where, according to the latest reports, a quite bloody combat is in progress with a lot of casualties. <…> About a third of the [Ukrainian] military have surrendered, with the other two thirds left lying in the field," Rodion Miroshnik said during an on-air broadcast of the Soloviev Live TV channel.
The LPR’s ambassador said the operation to liberate the Donbass republic would be brought to an end as soon as the operation in Lisichansk was finished, with Ukrainian forces moved towards Seversk.
About 5,000 to 7,000 Ukrainian troops could be deployed from near Slavyansk to Seversk in an attempt to form a stronghold, but it would hardly be possible to put up a powerful resistance there, Miroshnik said.
Earlier, aide to the LPR’s interior minister Vitaly Kisilyov told TASS that more than 1,000 Ukrainian servicemen had been killed near Lisichansk, with a number of officers captured.