Pro-Russian authorities in Donetsk claim that Seversk is “under operational control.”

Follow live the latest news on the war in Ukraine.

The authorities of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic have assured Thursday that the town of Seversk is “under operational control” of their forces and Russian troops, in the context of the intensification of fighting in the Donbas region (east) in recent weeks.

“Seversk is under our operational control, which means that the enemy in the whole area can be hit by our fire,” said Deputy Information Minister of the Donetsk People’s Republic Daniil Bezsonov, speaking to the YouTube channel of Russian journalist Vladimir Solovyov.

“I believe that Ukrainian units will flee Seversk even faster than Lisichansk,” he has maintained, while pointing out that once Seversk and Soledar are fully taken, the forces of the self-proclaimed republic and Russia will have a free hand to advance towards Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, as reported by the Russian news agency TASS.

The war in Ukraine broke out on February 24 following the invasion order signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who days earlier had recognized the independence of the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk (east), the scene of an armed conflict since 2014.