KYIV, Ukraine -- Russia claimed control Sunday over the last Ukrainian stronghold in an eastern province that is key to achieving a major goal of Moscow's grinding war.
The General Staff of Ukraine's military reported that its forces had withdrawn from Lysychansk in Luhansk province. President Volodymr Zelenskyy acknowledged the withdrawal but said the fight for the city was still raging on its outskirts.
If confirmed, Russia's complete seizure of Luhansk would provide its troops with a stronger base from which to press their advance in the Donbas, a region of mines and factories that President Vladimir Putin is bent on capturing in a campaign that could determine the course of the war.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told Putin that Russia's troops, with a local separatist militia, "have established full control over the city of Lysychansk" and now hold all of Luhansk, according to a ministry statement published Sunday.
The Russian statement characterized the victories as "the liberation of the Luhansk People's Republic." Separatists in Luhansk and neighboring Donetsk, which make up the Donbas and are home to significant Russian-speaking populations, declared independence from Kyiv in 2014 and their forces have battled Ukrainian troops there ever since. Russia formally recognized the self-proclaimed republics days before its Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainian and Russian forces fought fiercely for Lysychansk in recent days. On Sunday evening, the General Staff of Ukraine's military confirmed on social media that its forces had withdrawn from Lysychansk "to preserve the lives of Ukrainian defenders."
In his nightly video address, Zelenskyy noted the withdrawal, but he added that "Ukraine does not give anything back" and vowed to return with more modern weapons. Citing his forces' success in recapturing other territory, he promised, "There will be a day when we will say the same about Donbas."
Earlier, Zelenskyy said Kyiv's forces were still battling Russian soldiers on Lysychansk's outskirts "in a very difficult and dangerous situation."
"We cannot give you the final judgment. Lysychansk is still being fought for," Zelenskyy told a news conference in Kyiv given alongside Australia's visiting prime minister. He noted that territory can move quickly from one side to the other.
Russian forces maintain an advantage in the area, he acknowledged, calling it a Ukrainian military "weak spot."
The capture of Lysychansk would give the Russians more territory from which to intensify attacks on Donetsk. In recent weeks, Russian forces were thought to hold about half of Donetsk, but it's not clear where things stand now.
If Russia prevails in the Donbas, Ukraine would lose not only land but perhaps the bulk of its most capable military forces, opening the way for Moscow to grab more territory and strengthen its ability to dictate terms to Kyiv.
Since failing to take Kyiv and other areas in northern and central Ukraine early in the war, Russia has focused on the Donbas, unleashing fierce shelling and engaging in house-to-house combat that devastated Lysychansk, neighboring Sievierodonetsk and nearby villages. Few details emerged from either city during the battles, which decimated their populations as people were killed or fled.
Already Russian forces appeared to be pushing their advance in Donetsk, concentrating rocket attacks on the sizable Ukrainian-held city of Slovyansk, where at least six people were killed, regional government spokeswoman Tatyana Ignatchenko told Ukrainian TV.
Kramatorsk, another major city in the Donetsk region, also came under fire, the regional administration said.
Far from the fighting in the east, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Sunday visited a town near the capital that was severely damaged early in the war. Albanese called the destruction in Irpin "devastating."
"These are homes and these are livelihoods and indeed lives that have been lost here in this town," he said.
Meanwhile, the exiled mayor of the Russia-occupied city of Melitopol said Sunday that Ukrainian rockets destroyed one of four Russian military bases in the city.
Attacks were also reported inside Russia, in a revival of sporadic apparent Ukrainian strikes across the border. The governor of the Belgorod region in Western Russia said fragments of an intercepted Ukrainian missile killed four people Sunday. In the Russian city of Kursk, two Ukrainian drones were shot down, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
Kursk regional governor Roman Starovoit said the town of Tetkino, on the Ukraine border, came under mortar fire.
DIPLOMATS EXPELLED
Meanwhile, two Russian airplanes departed Bulgaria on Sunday with scores of Russian diplomatic staff and their families amid a mass expulsion that has sent tensions soaring between the historically close nations, a Russian diplomat said.
Filip Voskresenski, a high-ranking Russian diplomat, told journalists at the airport in Bulgaria's capital Sofia before the flights left that he was among the 70 Russian diplomatic staff members declared "persona non grata" last week and ordered to leave the country by the end of Sunday.
Bulgaria's expulsion decision was announced by acting Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, who took a strong stance against Russia after it invaded Ukraine. Petkov, who lost a no-confidence vote on June 22, has claimed Moscow used "hybrid war" tactics to bring down his government.
Petkov has said Russia will retain 43 of its employees after the expulsion and noted that Bulgaria has just 12 diplomatic staff members in Moscow.
"Anyone who works against the interests of Bulgaria will be called to go back to the country from which they came," he said.
On Friday, Russian Ambassador Eleonora Mitrofanova issued Bulgaria an ultimatum to reverse its decision and threatened that Moscow would fully sever diplomatic ties.
"I intend to urgently raise before the leadership of my country the issue of the closure of the Embassy of Russia in Bulgaria, which will inevitably lead to the closure of the Bulgarian diplomatic mission in Moscow," she said in a statement.
The expulsion is the highest number of Russian diplomats ever expelled by Bulgaria, which has European Union and NATO membership. Bulgaria has strongly backed the West's sanctions against Moscow since it launched its war on Ukraine more than four months ago.
The European Union, which Bulgaria has been a member of since 2007, responded to Russia's "unjustified threat" and said it "stands in full support and solidarity with Bulgaria."
In late April, Russia cut off gas supplies to Bulgaria after officials refused a Moscow demand to pay gas bills in rubles, Russia's currency. Bulgaria's defense minister was also ousted in early March for referring to Russia's war as a "special military operation," the Kremlin-preferred description.
Information for this article was contributed by Oleksandr Stashevskyi, Francesca Ebel, Stephen McGrath, Valentina Petrova and Maria Grazia Murru of The Associated Press.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, center, listens to a translator, during his visit to Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, July 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)
In this photo provided by the Luhansk region military administration, damaged residential buildings are seen in Lysychansk, Luhansk region, Ukraine, early Sunday, July 3, 2022. Russian forces pounded the city of Lysychansk and its surroundings in an all-out attempt to seize the last stronghold of resistance in eastern Ukraine's Luhansk province, the governor said Saturday. A presidential adviser said its fate would be decided within the next two days. (Luhansk region military administration via AP)
In this photo provided by the Luhansk region military administration, damaged residential buildings are seen in Lysychansk, Luhansk region, Ukraine, early Sunday, July 3, 2022. Russian forces pounded the city of Lysychansk and its surroundings in an all-out attempt to seize the last stronghold of resistance in eastern Ukraine's Luhansk province, the governor said Saturday. A presidential adviser said its fate would be decided within the next two days. (Luhansk region military administration via AP)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks with Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu during a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of Unknown Soldier in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, June 22, 2022, marking the 81st anniversary of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told President Vladimir Putin that Russia's troops together with members of a local separatist militia "have established full control over the city of Lysychansk," a ministry statement said Sunday, July 3, 2022. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaks during a press conference with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, July 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)
In this photo provided by the Luhansk region military administration, Ukrainian firefighters work to extinguish a fire at damaged residential building in Lysychansk, Luhansk region, Ukraine, early Sunday, July 3, 2022. Russian forces pounded the city of Lysychansk and its surroundings in an all-out attempt to seize the last stronghold of resistance in eastern Ukraine's Luhansk province, the governor said Saturday. A presidential adviser said its fate would be decided within the next two days. (Luhansk region military administration via AP)
A Ukrainian serviceman changes his position at the frontline near Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Saturday, July 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese take part in a press conference, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, July 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)
In this photo provided by the Luhansk region military administration, damaged residential buildings are seen in Lysychansk, Luhansk region, Ukraine, early Sunday, July 3, 2022. Russian forces pounded the city of Lysychansk and its surroundings in an all-out attempt to seize the last stronghold of resistance in eastern Ukraine's Luhansk province, the governor said Saturday. A presidential adviser said its fate would be decided within the next two days. (Luhansk region military administration via AP)