The Russian Armed Forces and the People’s Militia of the DPR have taken the city of Svetlodarsk under operational control, and a cleansing operation is underway. This was announced on May 24 at the headquarters of the territorial defense of the DPR.
“Svetlodarsk has passed under the operational control of our forces, and the cleansing of the enemy element continues,” the headquarters’ Telegram channel says.
According to him, the village of Mironovsky in the suburbs of Svetlodarsk is completely under the control of the DPR.
Earlier that day, the mayor of the city of Debaltsevo, Igor Zakharevich, announced that the Russian flag had been raised on the building of the Svetlodar administration.
Svetlodarsk is located 18 km north of Debaltsevo. Since the summer of 2014, it has been controlled by Kyiv. Svetlodarsk is home to one of Europe’s largest thermal power plants, Uglegorskaya TPP.
On February 24, Moscow launched a special operation to protect the DPR and LPR. It was preceded by an aggravation of the situation in the region, an appeal by the leadership of the Donbass republics to the Russian Federation with a request for help, and the subsequent recognition by Russia of the independence of the DPR and LPR.
Since 2014, the Ukrainian authorities have been carrying out a military operation against the residents of Donbass who refused to recognize the results of the coup d’état in Ukraine.