According to Russian troops, they have breached the Ukrainian defense lines in parts of Luhansk. Kiev has not confirmed the offensive, but Selenskyj recently described the situation on the front as "difficult".
According to the Defense Ministry, Russian troops have broken through the Ukrainian defense lines in parts of the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk. During the Russian offensive, Ukrainian troops retreated up to three kilometers from their previous positions, the ministry in Moscow said on the short message service Telegram. The more fortified second line of defense had also been breached. The ministry did not say in which part of the Luhansk region the offensive took place.
There was initially no independent confirmation of the information. The General Staff of the Ukrainian Army did not mention any significant setbacks in Luhansk. The morning General Staff statement said Ukrainian units repelled attacks in the area of 20 settlements, including Bakhmut and Wuhledar. Most recently, Russian troops had concentrated on the strategically important city of Bakhmut, which is located in the Donetsk region bordering Luhansk.
On Tuesday evening, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi described the situation at the front, especially in Donetsk and Luhansk, as difficult. But not only in the east, but also in the south of Ukraine, the Russian attacks have intensified in recent weeks. Russia controls over half of the Donetsk region, almost all of the Luhansk region and parts of the southern Kherson and Zaporizhia regions. Russia incorporated the four regions into its national territory at the end of September.
This annexation is just as little recognized internationally as the referendums that preceded it. Russian troops invaded the neighboring ex-Soviet republic on February 24, 2022. The government in Moscow describes the invasion as a special military operation against a threat to its own security. Ukraine and its allies speak of a war of aggression.
