Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in late February but it has been supporting separatists in the southern Donbas region since 2014.Īfter abandoning an attempt to capture the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in early May, it shifted its focus to the Donbas, which includes the Luhansk and Donetsk provinces. “It’s clear that our boys are slowly retreating to more fortified positions – we need to contain this crowd.”
He said Ukrainian fighters could leave “one settlement, maybe two”, but he added: “We need to win the war, not the battle”. “The checkpoints have been broken, they have been thrown back … the Russian army is not in control of the route right now, but they are shelling it.”
Serhiy Gaidai, governor of Luhansk, said about 50 Russian troops had reached an important highway, trying to “gain a foothold” and set up a checkpoint.
Russian forces were attacking from three sides in an attempt to encircle the city and vicinity of Lysychansk, knowing that if they fell, nearly all of Luhansk would be under Russian control. Shelling has increased in the city of Severodonetsk – one of the few areas of the Luhansk region in the Donbas still under Ukrainian government control.
