Russia's defence minister says Moscow's forces have taken control of the last major Ukrainian-held city in Ukraine's Luhansk province.?

Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told President Vladimir Putin on Sunday that “as a result of successful military operations, the armed forces of the Russian Federation, together with units of the People's Militia of the Luhansk People's Republic, have established full control over the city of Lysychansk,” Russian news agencies reported.

Ukrainian fighters spent weeks trying to defend Lysychansk and to keep it from falling to Russia, as neighbouring Sievierodonetsk did a week ago. A presidential adviser predicted late Saturday that the city's could be determined within days.?