https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/syrian-army-shoots-down-turkish-uav

Syrian army shoots down Turkish UAV

On Saturday, Turkish occupation forces in Syria targeted the position of the Syrian army with rockets and artillery.

Today, according to Syrian news sources, Turkish forces attempted again to target a Syrian army checkpoint in the north of Aleppo, but the Syrian army downed a Turkish drone that intended to target the checkpoint.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on May 23 that the Turkish army intends to carry out military operations to "combat terrorism" at the Turkish state borders, explaining that his government "will start taking new steps to complete the safe zone 30 km north of Syria."

On June 14, Turkish media reported that Ankara's troops have assumed combat formation and are all set to start Turkey's fifth military operation on the northern Syrian border, which it claims is aimed at the Kurdistan Workers' Party and what it considers as its military wing, the YPG.

In light of reports over an operation in northern Syria, the Syrian People's Assembly stressed Damascus' "right to use all means to confront the occupation and its terrorist mercenary tools."

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said during a press conference on Saturday that any foreign intervention in the region was rejected as it would only further complicate the situation. "Any Turkish military action in northern Syria would undermine regional stability in the region."

He revealed that he held talks with Turkish officials and told them that the only solution was for security officials from Damascus and Ankara to hold talks, underlining that Tehran would "exert great efforts to ensure that no military conflict takes place in northern Syria."

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https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/ukraine-announces-retreat-from-lysychansk

Ukraine announces retreat from Lysychansk

The Ukrainian armed forces have retreated from the eastern strategic city of Lysychansk, Kiev said on Sunday, following weeks of fierce fighting with the Russian and the allied LPR forces over the city.

"After heavy fighting for Lysychansk, the defense forces of Ukraine were forced to withdraw from their occupied positions and lines," the Ukrainian army general staff said.

"In order to preserve the lives of Ukrainian defenders, a decision was made to withdraw," the army said in a statement, pointing to Russia having superiority in numbers and equipment.

Earlier, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Moscow's forces had captured Lysychansk and taken full control of the Lugansk region.

Ukrainian officials had been unusually quiet on Sunday regarding the status of the fighting within the city. This could be explained by Kiev's "operational security" reasons, as the forces would not want to make public any tactical retreat. However, Lysyschansk still constitutes a major loss on Ukraine's eastern front.

The allied Russian and LPR forces have taken the city of Lysychansk, and they now had full control of the strategic city, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Saturday.

As they were leaving the city, the Ukrainian militants who had just lost their last stronghold in the Lugansk People's Republic blew up and destroyed some of the important administrative buildings, including the mayor's office, the Sputnik correspondent reported from the scene.

Having control of the LPR allows Moscow and its allied LPR forces to push deeper into the Donbass and control more of the region.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov told reporters that three battalions stationed near Lysychansk lost over 50% of their troops in one day of combat.