Russia-Ukraine War Day 131 updates: Russia claims capture of Luhansk region.

• Ukrainian forces retreat from Lysychansk as Russia claims strategic city.

• Russia claims major victory by seizing control of entire eastern Luhansk region.

Russia claims a major victory over Luhansk region and a huge setback to Ukraine, as it claims to have taken full control of Luhansk region. The Russian army made claims after taking over the final Ukrainian holdout of Lysychansk.

Luhansk province is located in eastern Ukraine, and is a major part of the country. Ukraine’s military command confirmed Lysychansk had been captured on Sunday, and that its forces has been retreating from the city.

Ukraine’s military command said: “The continuation of the defence of the city would lead to fatal consequences. In order to preserve the lives of Ukrainian defenders, a decision was made to withdraw,” it said in a statement on social media. Reported by Aljazeera

Earlier on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy had said fighting in Lysychansk was continuing.

A presidential adviser predicted late on Saturday that the city’s fate could be determined within days.

The fall of the city and the entire region of eastern Luhansk was on the cards from the last few days, especially when Russian forces for the first time successfully crossed a river which separates Lysychansk from Severodonetsk.

This victory means allot to Russian advances in Ukraine, as since abandoning attacks on the capital Kyiv, Russia has been concentrating on the industrial Donbas heartland that comprises the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, where separatist proxies backed by Russia, have been fighting Ukraine since 2014.