The Czech leader Ramzan Kadyrov today, on his Telegram channel, he wrote "Lisichansk is ours", thereby hinting that the last city in the Luhansk region that was under the control of Ukrainian forces fell into the hands of pro-Russian separatists.

He informed that the units under the command of the assistant head of the Chechen Republic, Apta Alaudinov, and the second corps of the People's Militia of the LPR passed through the entire city and reached the very center of Lisichansk.

Other divisions of allied troops also successfully entered the city from the side, liberating settlement after settlement and destroying Ukrainian forces.

The civilians, Kadyrov said, stayed in the city because "Ukrainian soldiers did not give them a chance to leave the city."

Pro-Russian separatists confirmed earlier today that they had completely surrounded the key city of Lisichansk, in the eastern Lugansk region.

"Today, the people's police of Luhansk and Russian forces occupied the last strategic heights, which allows us to confirm that Lisichansk is completely surrounded," said the spokesman of the separatist forces, Andrey Marochko, for Tass.

Taking the city would allow the Russians to penetrate deeper into the wider eastern Donbass region, which has become the focus of their offensive since failing to capture Kyiv.

Russia occupied the refinery in Lisichansk a few days ago. The refinery is located a little more than 15 kilometers from the city itself.