Russia claimed Sunday that its forces and their separatist allies have taken control of Lysychansk, the strategic eastern city that Ukraine had been furiously defending for fear that Russia could, in capturing it, take over the entire region of Luhansk and move into neighboring Donetsk.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu informed Russian President Vladimir Putin that the Luhansk People’s Republic — as the pro-Russian separatist government that claims control over the eastern region of Luhansk labels itself — has been “liberated,” Russia’s Defense Ministry said Sunday on Telegram.

“As Army General Sergei Shoigu reported, as a result of successful combat operations, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, together with units of the People’s Militia of the Lugansk People’s Republic, have established full control over the city of Lisichansk and a number of nearby settlements, the largest of which are Belogorovka, Novodruzhesk, Maloryazantsevo and Belaya Gora,” the ministry said in its post.

Yuriy Sak, a spokesman for Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, told the BBC on Sunday that Lysychansk was not under the “full control” of Russian forces and their separatist allies.

However, he acknowledged that Ukrainian forces could retreat from parts of the city amid “very intense” Russian attacks. “For Ukrainians, the value of human life is a top priority, so sometimes we may retreat from certain areas so that we can retake them in the future,” Sak told the broadcaster.

In any case, he said, it will “not be game over” for the Donbas region if Russia captures all of Luhansk, the BBC reported. Other large cities, particularly in the Donetsk region, are under Ukrainian control despite severe missile attacks and artillery shelling, he said, adding: “The battle for the Donbas is not over yet.”

Earlier in the day, Serhiy Haidai, governor of the Luhansk region, warned that Russian forces were entrenching themselves in the Lysychansk area and said the city was “on fire.”

Russia said Saturday its forces had encircled Lysychansk, which Ukraine disputed. But the Ukrainian counterclaims were probably “outdated or erroneous,” according to an analysis from the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War, which said Ukrainian forces probably conducted a “deliberate withdrawal” from the city.

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