Russian forces and troops of the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) have entered the city limits of Siversk in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, Russian state news agency TASS quoted Vitaly Kiselyov, assistant to LPR’s interior minister, as saying on Wednesday.
Kiselyov was quoted as saying the city could be taken in a couple of days.
Ukraine’s armed forces said in their evening briefing note that Russia had not conducted any new assaults on the frontline that includes Siversk, but that the town had been fired upon by artillery.
The TASS report quoted an official in the self-styled Lugansk People’s Republic, one of two Russian-backed breakaway entities in eastern Ukraine where the bulk of the fighting in the 20-week-old war is taking place.
Russia and its proxy forces in eastern Ukraine have previously struggled for many weeks before capturing targets such as the cities of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk.