In mid-April, Russia takes Kreminna in order to plan attacks on Sievjerodonetsk and Lysychansk from there. The Ukrainian troops are now about to recapture the city, which, as a possible gateway to the East, provides many military advantages.
According to the Ukrainian military, it has advanced near the strategically most important city of Kreminna in the Luhansk region. "Our soldiers continue their offensive actions in the area of the city of Kreminna. During the week the defenders of Ukraine advanced up to 2.5 kilometers in the direction of the mentioned town," said General Oleksiy Hromov at a briefing of the General Staff.
Kreminna is considered a possible gateway to advance further in eastern Ukraine. The US think tank Institute for the Study of the War (ISW) had previously announced that the Russian army was gathering troops in the Luhansk region and preparing for a decisive battle. The Ukrainian military governor of Luhansk, Serhiy Hajdaj, also reported on his Telegram channel about a concentration of Russian troops and heavy fighting in front of Kreminna.
The British Ministry of Defense announced on Wednesday that Russian troops near Kreminna are under constant pressure. Russia has likely strengthened its front line in the area in Luhansk Oblast in recent days, the ministry said in its regular intelligence update. It has established extensive new defenses there and will likely focus on holding the position.
The Russian military occupied Kreminna in mid-April after heavy fighting and from there prepared the further advance to the conurbation between Sievjerodonetsk and Lysychansk. In return, Kreminna could now serve the Ukrainians as a staging area for the reconquest of the two major cities after the capture. In addition, the conquest of Kreminna enabled the further advance to Starobilsk, a transport hub through which the Russian army supplies its units in northeastern Ukraine.
