MOSCOW, June 27. /TASS/. The Azot plant in Severodonetsk is practically intact and will soon be able to resume operation, Andrey Marochko, an officer of the People’s Militia of the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR), said on Monday.

"Despite the combat operation in the area, the Azot plant is practically intact. <…> It means that this plant will soon resume operation for the benefit of the Lugansk People’s Republic," he said in an interview with the Solovyov Live television channel.

According to Marochko, some damage was done to the plant: its roofing was damaged and windows were broken. "But all the plant’s equipment and machine tools are intact," he explained.

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.