Hanna Malya, the Ukrainian deputy defense minister, said the country's forces have taken full control of the city of Balakliya, which fell into Ukrainian hands earlier on Saturday, APA reports citing Teletrader.
Moscow later admitted it pulled its troops, from what was a Russian-occupied city, in order to step up efforts in Donetsk and achieve its goal of liberating Donbas.
Initially, on Saturday, regional officials announced that the Russian flag was raised in the city.