GROZNY, June 2. /TASS/. Ukrainian nationalists have returned a group of about 150-200 Ukrainian military servicemen, who retreated from Severodonetsk to Lisichansk, back to Severodonetsk, Lugansk People’s Republic, under fear of death, says Apti Alaudinov, aide to head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov and commander of the Akhmat special operations unit.

"The group (of Ukrainian nationalists resisting in Severodonetk’s industrial area - TASS) cannot be called big: some 150-200 people have been forced back to the industrial area from Lisichansk. We detain people, and those captured say that they are being forced to remain on this territory under fear of death, that is - they are not being permitted to retreat," Alaudinov said on Russian TV Thursday.

He noted that the residential area of Severodonetsk is currently 100% controlled by Russian forces, while the adjacent industrial area is right now only under partial control.

"There is a huge industrial area adjacent to the residential sector. It includes the Azot plant and a large number of adjacent enterprises and organizations. <…> We currently control about 5% of the industrial area, <…> the cleanup continues," the special operations unit commander said.