MOSCOW, June 26. /TASS/. Forces of the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) have liberated settlements on the left bank of the Seversky Donets River and mopped up the airport in Severodonetsk, LPR Ambassador to Russia Rodion Miroshnik said on Sunday.
"The left bank of the Seversky Donets has been liberated. To date, Severodonetsk, Borovskoye, Sirotino have been mopped up. The Severodonetsk airport has been mopped up. Lesnaya Dacha, all villages around Severodonetsk have been liberated," he said in an interview with the Solovyov Live television channel.
Russia’s defense ministry said earlier that the entire left bank of the Seversky Donets within the boundaries of the LPR had come under the control of the LPR forces. Civilians are being evacuated from the Azot chemical works in Severodonetsk, where militants of Ukraine’s Aidar nationalist battalion had been keeping them hostage.