In his Thursday statement on social media, Luhansk governor Serhiy Gaidai praised the Ukrainian troops for the mission they carried out in Severodonetsk, arguing that ‘not a single Ukrainian soldier died on a retread from the town’.

The town defenders held back the enemies and caused them losses but had to retreat on June 24 on getting the order from the Ukrainian military leadership.

Meanwhile, neighboring Lysychansk deals with relentless artillery and rocket assaults as Russia troops are trying to break through to the city.

A barrage of attacks make it hard to use transport routes due to shrapnel and unexploded shell scattered around them.