Ukraine war: Zelenskyy vows to reclaim lost ground after Russia captures Lysychansk
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy acknowledged on Sunday that Kyiv's forces had withdrawn from the strategic city in the eastern Donbas region after a grinding Russian assault. But he vowed to regain control over the area with the help of long-range Western weapons.
Moscow said the capture of Lysychansk meant it had "liberated" the Luhansk region, less than a week after taking neighbouring Sievierdonetsk.
Lysychansk was the last Ukrainian stronghold in Luhansk, a key target for Russia. Its capture will provide Moscow's troops with a stronger base from which to press their advance in the Donbas — the old industrial region of mines and factories that Vladimir Putin is bent on capturing.
The battlefield focus now shifts to the neighbouring Donetsk region, where Kyiv still controls swathes of territory.
In his nightly address on Sunday evening, Zelenskyy acknowledged the withdrawal, but was adamant Ukraine would never "give anything up".
"We will return, thanks to our tactics, thanks to the increase in the supply of modern weapons," he said.
The Ukrainian president said Russia was concentrating its firepower on the Donbas front, but Ukraine would hit back with long-range weapons such as the US-supplied HIMARS rocket launchers.
"The fact that we protect the lives of our soldiers, our people, plays an equally important role. We will rebuild the walls, we will win back the land, and people must be protected above all else," he said.
Zelenskyy insisted that Kyiv's forces were "making progress" elsewhere, in the areas around Kharkiv in the north-east, and Kherson in the south. "The day will come when we will say the same thing about the Donbas", he added.
Since abandoning its assault on the capital Kyiv, Russia has focused its
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