Ukraine troops retreat from Popasna, Luhansk governor confirms

(Reuters) -Ukrainian troops retreated from the eastern Ukrainian city of Popasna, the governor of Luhansk region said on Sunday, confirming previous reports that it had been taken.

The head of Russia’s republic of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, had said on Sunday his troops had taken control of most of Popasna.

Luhansk Governor Serhiy Gaidai told Ukraine television that Ukrainian troops had retreated to take up more fortified positions, adding: “Everything was destroyed there.”

Russian forces launched a new offensive push in April along most of Ukraine’s eastern flank, with some of most intense attacks and shelling taking place recently around Popasna in the Luhansk region.

(Reporting in Melbourne by Lidia Kelly and Natalia Zinets in Kyiv; writing by Nerijus Adomaitis; Editing by Michael Perry and Edmund Blair)