You're reading: Ukrainian National Guard cleansing Severodonetsk, Lysychansk of militants

The Ukrainian National Guard and the Ukrainian army are cleansing the cities in eastern Ukraine from militants, the National Guard press service reported on Wednesday, July 23.

“As of 9 a.m., the National Guard and the Ukrainian Armed Forces
continued cleansing the city of Severodonetsk, Luhansk region. Fighting
is now taking place near Lysychansk (near the bridge over the Northern
Donets) and the military plan to free Lysychansk, Luhansk region, from
terrorist groups in the near future,” the report says.

In Severodonetsk, the National Guard seized the insurgents’ arsenal,
including combat reconnaissance patrol vehicles (manufactured in the
USSR), a D-30 howitzer, over fifty kilos of plastic explosives, 15
landmines, over 3,000 pieces of ammunition, 17 rounds of an anti-tank
grenade launcher, communications devices, and militants’ radio stations,
the report says.

“The cities freed from the terrorists are now being cleansed,” the report says.

Valeriy Bolotov, the head of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s
Republic, said Severodonetsk and Lysychansk “have not fully surrendered
to the enemy.” “There are centers of resistance, which will turn into
full-scale military action in the near future,” Bolotov said.