After 130 days of battle, Russia is getting closer to one of its main objectives. “Release”, in the terminology of the Kremlin armythe Luhansk region, in the part of the Ukrainian Donbas.
Soberly, Sergei Shoigu, Russian defense ministertoday informed President Vladimir Putin of the takeover or “liberation” of the Lugansk region. “Today, July 3, 2022, the Defense Minister of the Russian Federation, Army General Sergei Shoigu, informed the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, Vladimir Putin, of the liberation of the Lugansk People’s Republic,” the institution said. military
Shoigu noted that the largest cities over which Russia has established control are Bilohorivka, west of Lisichansk; Novodruzhesk, to the north; Maloryazantseve to the west and Bila Hora to the south. The military statement was released just minutes after the defense spokesman, Lieutenant General Igor Konashénkov, stated in his morning war report that “Russian troops and units of the Lugansk People’s Republic are fighting inside Lisichansk, finishing off the defeat of the enemy surrounded”.
[El intercambio de Putin: entregará a Brittney Griner si le devuelven al ‘mercader de la muerte’]
He explained that the day before the towns of NovodruzheskMaloryazantseve and Bila Hora were “liberated in the vicinity of Lisichansk” and that they “closed the fence” around the city, which was until today, always according to Russia, the last stronghold of kyiv in the Lugansk region. Konashenkov pointed out that, during the operation in the area, Russian and pro-Russian troops also took control of Verkhniokamyanka, Zolotarivka and Bilhorivka, to the west and very close to the border of the neighboring Donetsk region, and reached the Siverski Donets river.
All this allowed the soldiers “Close the fence around Lisichansk,” he said. However, from Ukraine they report that Russian troops are advancing in the city of Lisichansk, but that they do not control it.
“Gaining ground”
According to the governor of the Lugansk region, Serhiy GaidaiRussian forces “are gaining ground in the city” as well as in Verkhniokamyanka, 17 kilometers to the west and near the border with the neighboring Donetsk region. “The occupiers probably threw all their forces against Lisichansk. They attacked the city with inexplicably brutal tactics,” he added.
He said that in the neighbor Severodonetskunder Russian control after a month of street fighting, some houses and administrative buildings survived, but in Lisichansk the administrative buildings themselves were “completely destroyed in a short period of time”.
Elderly woman being evacuated from the Donetsk region.
EP
“There are many Russians and many weapons that they are using. And this despite the destruction of several warehouses with enemy ammunition,” he stressed. The russian troops “They are taking heavy losses, but they are stubbornly advancing. They are gaining ground in the city, as well as in Verkhniokamyanka, and continue to destroy villages,” Gaidai stressed.
The day before, the pro-Russian separatists and the chechen leader, Ramzán Kadírov, assured that the troops had entered Lisichansk and broadcast videos with Russian and Chechen flags waving in front of the city’s administrative building. Until now, however, Ukraine had not recognized the entry of Russian forces into Lisichansk.
Situation “very intense”
For his part, the spokesman for the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, yuri sak, rejected that Russia has achieved “total control” of the city of Lisichansk, as claimed by the Moscow Government. In an interview, Sak admitted, however, that the situation has been “very intense for a long time” in that town, which has remained the last bastion of the Ukrainian resistance in the province in recent weeks, since the Russian forces did not they have stopped “attacking her non-stop”.
“For Ukrainians, the value of human life is a top priority, so sometimes we can withdraw from certain areas in order to retake them in the future,” he said. He also referred to the battle being waged by both sides for the region of the donbaswhich, as he points out, “is not over yet”, even if Russia manages to capture all of Lugansk.
“There are other big cities in that area, in particular in the Donbas region” controlled by Ukraine. “Those cities have been the target of several missile attacks, artillery shelling in recent days, but the battle for Donbas is not over yet,” she said. Sak also stated that Ukraine is “hopeful” and receives support from its western allies At the same time, he assured that over time he will be able to accumulate enough weapons that “will allow them to liberate” their lands.
Add Comment