There was no immediate comment by authorities in Ukraine.
Hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a military offensive against Ukraine, Russian-backed separatists claimed that they now control the two towns in the Luhansk region.
Izvestia news agency reported that combat operations were carried out by assault brigades of the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) in the area of the city of Shchastia, near the line of contact in the Donbass.
This was announced on February 24 by the adviser to the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the LPR Vitaly Kiselev in his telegram channel.
