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A Ukrainian serviceman looks at the ruins of the sports complex of the National Technical University in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Andrii Marienko via PA

Russia pushes to block second city in eastern Ukraine

The Luhansk region’s governor said that Russian forces are attempting to blockade Lysychansk from the south.

LAST UPDATE | 25 Jun 2022

RUSSIAN FORCES ARE trying to block a city in eastern Ukraine, the region’s governor said today, after their relentless assault on a nearby city forced Ukrainian troops to begin withdrawal after weeks of intense fighting.

Russia also launched missile attacks on areas far from the heart of the eastern battles.

Serhiy Haidai, governor of the Luhansk region, said on Facebook that Russian forces are attempting to blockade the city of Lysychansk from the south. That city lies next to Sievierodonetsk, which has endured relentless assault and house-to-house fighting for weeks.

After Haidai said yesterday that Ukrainian forces had begun retreating from Sievierodonetsk, military analyst Oleg Zhdanov said some of the troops were heading for Lysychansk. But Russian moves to cut off Lysychansk will give those retreating troops little respite.

Russian bombardment has reduced most of Sievierodonetsk to rubble and cut its population from 100,0000 to 10,000. Some Ukrainian troops are holed up in the huge Azot chemical factory on the city’s edge, along with about 500 civilians.

Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk have been the focal point of the Russian offensive aimed at capturing all of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region and destroying the Ukrainian military defending it — the most capable and battle-hardened segment of the country’s armed forces.

The two cities and surrounding areas are the last major pockets of Ukrainian resistance in the Luhansk region — 95% of which is under Russian and local separatist forces’ control.

The Russians and separatists also control about half of the Donetsk region, the second province in the Donbas.

Some 600 miles to the west, four Russian rockets hit a “military object” in Yaroviv, Lviv regional governor Maksym Kozytskyy said.

He did not give further details of the target, but Mr Yaroviv has a sizable military base used for training fighters, including foreigners who have volunteered to fight for Ukraine. That base was hit by Russian rockets in March, killing 35 people.

The Lviv region, although far from the front lines, has been hit by other rockets during the war, destroying fuel storage areas.

About 30 Russian rockets were fired on the Zhytomyr region in central Ukraine this morning, killing one Ukrainian soldier, regional governor Vitaliy Buchenko said.

Rocket Attack

In the north, about 20 rockets were fired from Belarus into the Chernihiv region, the Ukrainian military said.

A senior US defence official, speaking in Washington on condition of anonymity, yesterday called the Ukrainians’ move out of Sievierodonetsk a “tactical retrograde” to consolidate forces into positions where they can better defend themselves.

This will add to Ukraine’s effort to keep Russian forces pinned down longer in a small area, the official said.

Following a botched attempt to capture Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, in the early stage of the invasion that started on February 24, Russian forces have shifted their focus to the Donbas, where the Ukrainian forces have fought Moscow-backed separatists since 2014.

After repeated Ukrainian requests to its Western allies for heavier weaponry to counter Russia’s edge in firepower, four medium-range American rocket launchers have arrived, with four more on the way.

The senior US defence official said yesterday that more Ukrainian forces are training outside Ukraine to use the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, and are expected back in their country with the weapons by mid-July.

The rockets can travel about 45 miles. Also to be sent are 18 US coastal and river patrol boats.

The official said there is no evidence Russia has been successful in intercepting any of what has been a steady flow of military aid into Ukraine from the US and other nations.

Russia has repeatedly threatened to strike, or actually claimed to have hit, such shipments. 

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    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Dotty Dunleary
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    Jun 4th 2018, 7:30 PM

    Crush their cars and rip up the driving licences while you’re at it…

    702
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    Mute David Dickson
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    Jun 4th 2018, 7:43 PM

    @Dotty Dunleary: have you still got a licence that you could rip?

    66
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    Mute jenni
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    Jun 4th 2018, 7:58 PM

    @Dotty Dunleary: I wouldn’t crush that Lamborghini…but tbh I would have bothered buying a lambo in Ireland. Other than motorways, the roads are shi?e.

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    Mute Michael Powell
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    Jun 4th 2018, 8:02 PM

    @jenni: what Lamborghini?

    44
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    Mute Dotty Dunleary
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    Jun 4th 2018, 8:08 PM

    @jenni: Looks like a UK Reg Ferrari…

    Though probably just a Toyota MR2 with a bodykit…

    67
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    Mute Dotty Dunleary
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    Jun 4th 2018, 8:09 PM

    @David Dickson: Old Skool!

    15
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    Mute David Dickson
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    Jun 4th 2018, 8:18 PM

    @Dotty Dunleary: just like the guards with their mph.

    13
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    Mute David Edwards
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    Jun 4th 2018, 9:11 PM

    @jenni: it’s a Ferrari alright and impound and crush laws like Australia wouldn’t go astray here I’d say

    32
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    Mute Stephen Foster
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    Jun 4th 2018, 9:49 PM

    @jenni: looks more like a Ferrari 288 GTO. Good ole Magnam PI.

    18
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    Mute ウィリアム はげ
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    Jun 4th 2018, 10:22 PM

    @Stephen Foster: you’d have to be very brave or stupid to do 178km in that old piece of junk though. Most likely that was the micra in the background.

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    Mute Jack
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    Jun 4th 2018, 11:01 PM

    @ウィリアム はげ: 178 is 110 in old money. Any Ferrari is well capable of safely handling that speed. Especially on a motorway. Even lesser Ferrari’s like the 288

    9
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    Mute David Dickson
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    Jun 4th 2018, 7:37 PM

    “The car caught speeding, drink driving, and driving the wrong way around a roundabout in Donegal”
    Wait till that car gets home the owner will batter it for messing about. No petrol for a month.

    220
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    Mute Jonathan Power
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    Jun 5th 2018, 8:21 AM

    @David Dickson: he was probably practicing for the rally next weekend. That does be carnage around town bits of cars everywhere

    11
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    Mute Alan Lynch
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    Jun 4th 2018, 8:27 PM

    160kph on a motorway is nothing to any modern car. Motorway speed limits need to be revised

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    Mute Finbarr Lucey
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    Jun 4th 2018, 9:10 PM

    It’s nothing to a modern car but it’s the idiot behind the wheel doing that speed would cause an accident.

    211
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    Mute kevinhunt101
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    Jun 4th 2018, 9:23 PM

    @Finbarr Lucey: on a straight road it’s grand with not much traffic. A good car doesn’t feel like it’s even going that fast

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    Mute Van Transport Johnny O'Connor
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    Jun 4th 2018, 9:58 PM

    @Alan Lynch: nothing until you need to stop in a hurry

    64
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    Mute Patrick J. O'Rourke
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    Jun 4th 2018, 10:05 PM

    @Van Transport Johnny O’Connor: Or a sheep walks across the road.

    21
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    Mute heavyhits
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    Jun 4th 2018, 10:40 PM

    @Alan Lynch: Irish drivers are very specific, so better keep the limits.

    3
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    Mute Ohhh_reeally
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    Jun 5th 2018, 9:41 AM

    @Alan Lynch: no they don’t. The speed limits take account of a lot more factors than the cars capabilities.

    1
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    Mute Dotty Dunleary
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    Jun 5th 2018, 10:39 AM

    @Alan Lynch: No they don’t and you’re completely wrong!

    A BMW. Audi, Merc etc,. etc. may well be able to comfortably cruise at 160kph, however the Irish motorway isn’t designed to safely handle cars traveling at that velocity.

    Irish M roads are basically dual carriageways with a higher speed limit. Autobahn’s they are not!

    4
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    Mute Mark Boyle
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    Jun 5th 2018, 1:06 PM

    @Dotty Dunleary: What’s the difference between an Irish motorway and a German one?

    1
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    Mute Alan Lynch
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    Jun 5th 2018, 1:50 PM

    @Dotty Dunleary: to say I’m “completely wrong” is a bit off.
    The majority of modern cars are built to easily crack 160kph. I’m not saying that should be the limit but 130-140 is perfectly responsible in my opinion.

    3
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    Mute SlinkyDog
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    Jun 4th 2018, 7:43 PM

    Are we still using mph?

    89
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    Mute William Kelly
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    Jun 5th 2018, 6:38 AM

    @SlinkyDog: yes, we are still using mph, a lot.
    All the UK imports & N.I vehicles have mph speedos, with kph in lower case.

    13
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    Mute John Flood
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    Jun 5th 2018, 6:43 AM

    @SlinkyDog: the UK chose to keep imperial measurements, I think we should have too. The EU extended the choice to us but we kept metric.

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    Mute Nick Caffrey
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    Jun 5th 2018, 8:09 AM

    @John Flood: No. We are Europeans, not backward facing English.

    23
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    Mute Gareth Cooney
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    Jun 4th 2018, 8:14 PM

    The Nardai must have been dizzy tailing that guy round the roundabout.
    But then again, when a Nard is dizzy, a Nard is bizzy What?

    48
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    Mute Ohhh_reeally
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    Jun 5th 2018, 9:45 AM

    @Gareth Cooney: Nardai!! I hope that’s your Da in the profile picture and you’re just a little kid. If not then you’re an idiot

    10
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    Mute Frank Dubogovik
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    Jun 4th 2018, 7:29 PM

    my old qashqai couldn’t even get up to that speed

    41
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    Mute Jonathan Power
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    Jun 5th 2018, 8:23 AM

    @Frank Dubogovik: you’re lucky there terrible top heavy dreadful handling you’d flip it turn it over

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    Mute John Murphy
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    Jun 4th 2018, 7:57 PM

    Weeeeeeeeeeeeee !!!!

    20
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    Mute Joseph Molloy
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    Jun 4th 2018, 7:45 PM

    The Gardas should be out everyday. They are waste

    30
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    Mute Michael Powell
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    Jun 4th 2018, 8:03 PM

    @Joseph Molloy: they are 24hr 365days a year. You just worry about collecting your dole once a week.

    150
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    Mute Gus Sheridan
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    Jun 4th 2018, 8:25 PM

    @Joseph Molloy: not enough of them

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    Mute David Edwards
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    Jun 4th 2018, 9:46 PM

    @Michael Powell: to be fair I’ve been living in Ireland full time since 2008 and have been breath tested once, there’s no deterrent here, in Melbourne 3/4 times a month wouldn’t even unusual

    12
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    Mute Drew P. Baulsach
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    Jun 4th 2018, 10:23 PM

    @David Edwards: seems to be very dependent on where you are in the country. I’ve gone through one, ever, but my dad might go through one a week. I’m in offaly, he’s in kildare.

    10
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    Mute Philip Mckenna
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    Jun 5th 2018, 12:59 AM

    @Drew P. Baulsach: very true I have lived in roscommon for 13 years never been tested once, was in Dublin for a wedding last year was tested twice in 3 days!

    9
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    Mute Hans Vos
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    Jun 5th 2018, 9:28 AM

    @Drew P. Baulsach: I’m in Tipperary for 25 years and never been stopped for drink control. Only for roadtax and insurance control.

    4
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    Mute Ohhh_reeally
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    Jun 5th 2018, 9:47 AM

    @David Edwards: I lived I’m Melbourne for 4 years and was never once breath tested

    2
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    Mute Ohhh_reeally
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    Jun 5th 2018, 9:47 AM

    @Hans Vos: no such thing as road tax control

    1
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    Mute Hans Vos
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    Jun 5th 2018, 11:46 AM

    @Ohhh_reeally: oh reeally? You never stopped by the Garda for tax disk control.

    4
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    Mute Ohhh_reeally
    Favourite Ohhh_reeally
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    Jun 5th 2018, 4:30 PM

    @Hans Vos: no. Stopped at checkpoints where all required documents were checked.. not tax control as you call it

    1
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    Mute Hans Vos
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    Jun 5th 2018, 8:39 PM

    @Ohhh_reeally: maybe not in Melbourne but in Ireland they never asked me for documents but only look if you have your disk’s displayed.

    1
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    Mute Dermot Foley
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    Jun 4th 2018, 7:39 PM

    Absolutely disgusting tbh. But absolutely hilarious too.

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    Mute Christina Sherwin Russell
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    Jun 5th 2018, 4:06 AM

    Name and shame as they do here in ontario

    15
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    Mute Eric Gaffney
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    Jun 4th 2018, 9:43 PM

    Unlikely to be perceived as toxic.

    4
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    Mute Stephen Mullin
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    Jun 5th 2018, 6:24 AM

    It wasn’t me Judge – It was my drunkin self drive Tesla !!

    4
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    Mute LikeSeriouslySue
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    Jun 4th 2018, 9:38 PM

    a court appearance is hardly a deterrent – the message is not being heard. It should be treated like intent of assault with a deadly weapon.justice system in ireland is a joke and people know it,

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    Mute anthony o cathain
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    Jun 5th 2018, 11:42 AM

    3 yrs please

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    Mute Divad Nayr
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    Jun 4th 2018, 10:26 PM

    Absolutely discussing, that’s a Ferrari 288 GTO , not a Lamborghini.

    1
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