Ukraine: Moscow reports capture of Ukrainian bastion in Luhansk – Kiev denies it

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Abroad Eastern Ukraine

Heavy explosions after supposedly complete Russian control of Luhansk region

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Destroyed houses and cars in the Luhansk region

Destroyed houses and cars in the Luhansk region

Source: via REUTERS

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After heavy fighting, Russia wants to gain complete control of Luhansk in eastern Ukraine; one of the last Ukrainian-held villages has been annexed. Meanwhile, Leonid Passechnik, head of the Russian-occupied region, reported a serious, suspected attack by Ukraine.

Russia has announced the capture of one of the last villages under Ukrainian control in the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine, which was declared annexed by Moscow. As a result of fighting, “the units of the Southern Group completely liberated the town of Bilogorivka in the Luhansk People’s Republic and occupied more advantageous positions,” the Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday.

The head of the Russian-controlled Luhansk region, Leonid Passechnik, wrote on his Telegram channel on Monday evening that a fuel depot had been damaged in Sverdlovsk “by a rocket strike with cluster munitions”. In 2016, Ukraine renamed the small town of Sverdlovsk, which had been occupied by Russian forces since 2014, to Dovzhansk. According to Ukrainian media, a base of Russian troops was also hit in the rocket attack.

Videos on social networks show thick clouds of smoke, but also a burning multi-story barracks-style building. Officially, the Russian authorities on the ground have not provided any information on the number of dead or injured. Recently, Ukraine has repeatedly fired its missiles at oil processing plants and fuel depots in addition to purely military targets in order to complicate the logistics of the Russian military.

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Ukraine, however, denied that Russian troops were in control of the village of Bilogorivka. “The defense forces have been holding back the onslaught of the enemy for some time, trying to somehow penetrate the Bilogorivka area,” the Kiev General Staff said on Facebook. Bilogorivka, inhabited by around 800 people before the conflict, was a symbol of Ukrainian resistance in the Luhansk region.

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The current situation in Ukraine

Source: Infographic WELT

Luhansk is one of four Ukrainian regions declared annexed by Moscow in 2022. Gaining complete control of these areas has long been a priority for the Kremlin.

The Ukrainian army has been under intense pressure over the past two weeks: fending off a new Russian offensive in the Kharkiv region while also struggling with ammunition shortages at the front. Moscow says it has made a number of advances in the past week.

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