Russian offensive overruns ‘97% of Luhansk region’

Russia claimed on Tuesday it had occupied large swathes of eastern Ukraine after a relentless, weeks-long barrage and the recent deployment of more troops.

Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu said Moscow’s forces had “liberated” 97 per cent of the Luhansk region.

Russia appears determined to capture the entire eastern Donbas part of Ukraine, which is made up of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. That objective appears to be its most immediate ambition in Ukraine. But while the Kremlin’s forces have superior firepower, the Ukrainian defenders — among them the country’s most well-trained forces — are entrenched and have shown the capability to counterattack.

Mr Shoigu claimed that Russian forces have seized the residential quarters of Severodonetsk and are fighting to take control of an industrial zone on its outskirts and the nearby towns.

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Severodonetsk, the administrative centre of the Luhansk region, has recently been the focus of the Russian offensive. Severodonetsk and nearby Lysychansk are the only two Donbas cities holding out against the Russian invasion, which is being helped by local pro-Kremlin forces.

Mr Shoigu added that the Russian troops were pressing their offensive towards the town of Popasna and noted that they have taken control of Lyman and Sviatohirsk and 15 other towns in the region. Popasna is a town with a pre-war population of 20,000 located about 20 miles south of Severodonetsk.

A Ukrainian official said on Tuesday that Moscow is deploying reinforcements in eastern Ukraine as a Russian artillery barrage aimed to grind down defences.

Luhansk governor Serhiy Haidai conceded that Russian forces control the industrial outskirts of Severodonetsk. “Toughest street battles continue, with varying degrees of success,” said Mr Haidai. “The situation constantly changes, but the Ukrainians are repelling attacks.”

Moscow’s strategy has suffered numerous setbacks, however, since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24th, including a failed attempt to take Kyiv, the capital. Moscow’s forces also kept up an artillery barrage of Lysychansk, a city close to Severodonetsk which is almost fully controlled by Russian troops.

Mr Haidai said Russian troops shelled a local market, a school and a college building, destroying the latter. Three wounded people were sent to hospitals in other parts of Ukraine, he said.

“A total destruction of the city is under way, Russian shelling has intensified significantly over the past 24 hours. Russians are using scorched earth tactics,” Mr Haidai said.

Russia’s parliament on Tuesday passed a pair of Bills ending the European Court of Human Rights’ jurisdiction in the country. The break removes a legal avenue that Russians, including jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, have used in the past to raise high-profile cases that had been rejected by national courts. The Bills must now be signed by Russian president Vladimir Putin before becoming law.

While insisting on Ukraine’s need to defeat Russia on the battlefield, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said at a Financial Times conference on Tuesday that he was still open to peace talks with Mr Putin. He also lamented that western sanctions “have not really influenced the Russian position”, the FT reported.

In Kyiv, meanwhile, autopsies were planned on dozens of Ukrainian fighters killed at the Azovstal steelworks. The bodies were returned to Ukraine by the Russian occupiers of the fortress-like plant in the destroyed city of Mariupol. It was unclear how many bodies might remain at the plant. — AP/Reuters