There is not much left of Novotoshkivka, a small village about 16 miles — or 26 kilometers — southeast of Severodonetsk, new drone video published on Monday by the Russian-backed separatist government Luhansk People’s Republic shows.
CNN has geolocated and confirmed the authenticity of the video.
Novotoshkivka was a very dense but small village in the Luhansk oblast, in eastern Ukraine; it only stretches about half a mile long, and a third of a mile wide.
Now, fighting in the new war between Russian and Ukrainian forces have left it completely destroyed. Russian backed separatists claim the Ukrainians blew it up when they retreated from their positions in the village.
Serhiy Hayday, the Luhansk regional administrator, confirmed Ukrainian forces there had retreated but claimed on his Facebook page that the Russians had decimated the village through repeated airstrikes.
In remarks made on Ukrainian television Monday, Hayday said that the Russians “keep razing everything to the ground.”
“Unfortunately, there are almost no houses left in Novotoshkivka. Our [troops] retreated a little, but not much, because there was no longer anything to hold on to, there was nowhere to keep the defense,” he said.
Novotoshkivka had been the site of intense fighting over the last week. At the time, the Ukrainian government and Luhansk regional administration said Russian forces there had been repelled after repeatedly trying to take over the village.
More News
Charges Against a Congressman Lay Bare Foreign Government Influence Attempts
Last of Escaped Zebras Captured With White Bread, Oats and ‘Positivity’
The Bleak Life of a Deposed President and His Wife, Held Captive