Ukraine's military operation in Lugansk 'successful': Official

KIEV: Ukrainian presidential advisor Oleksiy Arestovych has described as "successful" Ukraine's military operation in the key cities in the eastern Lugansk region.

"The defence of the Lysychansk-Severodonetsk agglomeration is a successful military operation," Arestovych wrote on Facebook.

He added that Ukraine has performed all four key tasks of the defensive operation, including interdicting key enemy forces, inflicting losses on the enemy forces, buying time for receiving weapons and creating conditions for offensive operations in other sectors of the frontline, Xinhua news agency reported.

Currently, Ukraine is carrying out counterattacking actions in the eastern Donetsk region and in the southern Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, Arestovych said.

On Sunday, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu apprised President Vladimir Putin of the "control of the Lugansk region", according to Russia's Defence Ministry.

Late on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that Ukrainian forces withdrew from Lysychanska, a key city of Lugansk, but vowed that Ukrainian forces "will return".