Kyiv: Ukrainian military withdraw from Lysychansk without losses

Ukrainian troops have managed to withdraw from Lysychansk without losses.

The defenders retreated to more fortified positions, RBC-Ukraine quotes Luhansk regional leader Serhiy Haidai as telling BBC.

According to him, the Russian army has a significant advantage in equipment and ammunition. Therefore, the Ukrainian military did not allow the encirclement and left the city.

"They would just destroy the city from afar, so there was no point in staying. We would have been surrounded and would have had to sit there while the city was being shelled," Haidai said.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces have gone to ready-made fortified positions further to the west, from where they will continue to fight the invaders when more weapons from Western partners come.

"Everyone left without losses... Personally, it's hard and painful for me, but this is not a lost war. It's just one battle we've lost. We needed to preserve our troops so that when a sufficient number of weapons supplied by the West arrived, we could conduct normal operations and counterattack," he added.

To recap, on July 3, it became known that the Ukrainian military had left Lysychansk. The Ukrainian Armed Forces withdrew from positions to preserve personnel.