Separatists claim to have seized 2 small towns in eastern Ukraine

Separatists claim to have seized 2 small towns in eastern Ukraine.

Separatists in Ukraine said they have seized the small towns of Stanytsia Luhanska and Schastia, while the Kiev authorities confirmed that pro-Russian forces had advanced into territory controlled by government troops.

According to the separatists, troops advanced to the Seversky Donets River, which until now, constituted the front line between government troops and pro-Russian forces.

The Russian army had advanced to the towns of Milove and Horodyshche on Ukrainian territory, the Interior Ministry in Kiev said.

“Ammunition deported in the western Ukrainian region of Khmelnytskyi and in the south-eastern region of Dnipro, were attacked with rockets,” it added.

In the western Ukrainian city of Lutsk, a television tower was destroyed.

In addition, Ukrainian army barracks were reportedly attacked in the western region of Vinnytsia and near the capital Kiev.

The reasons for the attacks were initially unclear.

Russian military forces have been shelling eastern Ukraine, but the situation is “under control,’’ the General Staff of the Ukrainian army said on Facebook, adding that there had been no Russian troop landings in the port city of Odesa on the Black Sea.

The Ukrainian military also said it had shot down five Russian planes and one helicopter in the Luhansk area.

Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky demanded immediate sanctions against Moscow and called on Twitter for defence aid and financial support, following phone calls with Western leaders including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.