Russian forces leave Snake Island but keep up assault in eastern Ukraine

There has been heavy fighting in the Luhansk region (AP)

Russia has pulled back its forces from a strategically placed Black Sea island where troops have faced relentless Ukrainian attacks, but kept up its push to encircle the last bulwark of Ukraine’s resistance in the eastern province of Luhansk.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said it withdrew its forces from Snake Island off Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa in what it described as a “goodwill gesture”.