A Russia-appointed official in Ukraine's occupied Luhansk region said Monday that Moscow's forces have overrun all of it — one of four regions Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in September 2022 despite not fully controlling a single one.
If confirmed, that would make Luhansk the first Ukrainian region fully occupied by Russia after more than three years of war and as recent U.S.-led international peace efforts have failed to make progress on halting the fighting.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has effectively rejected a ceasefire and hasn’t budged from his demands, which include Moscow's control over the four illegally annexed regions.
There was no immediate comment from Kyiv on the claim made by the Moscow-installed leader of the occupied region, Leonid Pasechnik. In remarks to Russia's state TV Channel One that aired Monday evening, Pasechnik said he received a report “literally two days ago” saying that “100%” of the region was now under the control of Russian forces.
The development came just hours after the top German diplomat said that Germany aims to help Ukraine manufacture more weapons more quickly as Kyiv looks to strengthen its negotiating position in peace talks with Russia.
“We see our task as helping Ukraine so that it can negotiate more strongly,” Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said during a visit to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, accompanied by German defense industry representatives.
“When Putin speaks of peace today, it is pure mockery," Wadephul told a news conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha. "His apparent readiness to negotiate is only a facade so far.”
Russia’s invasion shows no sign of letting up. Its grinding war of attrition along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line and long-range strikes on civilian areas of Ukraine have killed thousands of troops and civilians.
Ukraine is outgunned and shorthanded on the front line and international aid has been vital for Ukraine’s resistance against its neighbor's bigger army and economy. Germany has been Ukraine’s second-largest military backer after the United States, whose continuing support is in doubt.
“We want to build new joint ventures so that Ukraine itself can produce faster and more for its own defense, because your needs are enormous,” Wadephul said while standing next to Sybiha.
“Our arms cooperation is a real trump card — it is a logical continuation of our delivery of material,” Wadephul said. “And we can even benefit mutually from it — with your wealth of ideas and your experience, we will become better.”
Wadephul was also due to meet with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The top German diplomat's trip to Kyiv came less than 48 hours after Russia launched its biggest combined aerial attack against Ukraine over the weekend, Ukrainian officials said, in an escalating bombing campaign that has further dashed hopes for a breakthrough in peace efforts.
Ukraine’s air force said Monday it detected 107 Russian Shahed and decoy drones in the country’s air space overnight.
Strikes in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region left two civilians dead and eight injured, including a 6-year-old child, regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said Monday.
The aerial onslaughts are calculated by Russia to squeeze Ukraine into submission, according to the Institute for the Study of War.
“Russia is continuing to use increasingly large numbers of drones in its overnight strike packages in order to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses and enable subsequent cruise and ballistic missile strikes,” the Washington-based think tank said late Sunday.
“The increases in Russia’s strike packages in recent weeks are largely due to Russia’s efforts to scale up its defense industrial production, particularly of Shahed and decoy drones and ballistic missiles,” the institute added.
Sybiha thanked Germany for its contribution to Ukraine’s air defense and urged Berlin to send more antimissile systems.
The Russians “are attacking civilian targets in order to create panic, to influence the mood of our population,” he said. “The key is the air defense system.”
Berlin has balked at granting Zelenskyy’s request to provide Ukraine with powerful German- and Swedish-made Taurus long-range missiles, which could potentially hit targets inside Russia. That is due to fears such a move could enrage the Kremlin and draw NATO into Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz pledged in May to help Ukraine develop its own long-range missile systems that would be free of any Western-imposed limitations on their use and targets.
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25 Comments
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TaiwanIsNotChina
That's great but it's still a long way to Kyiv. Going to have to line up a lot more russian bodies.
bass4funk
I knew that was going to happen
TaiwanIsNotChina
You knew they were going to gain a square kilometer today? That is a bold prediction.
Lancet
Short-handed????
Ukraine has a population of 40 million, that's 10 million able bodied men.
Why aren't they volunteering?
They know the war is a pointless proxy war.
JJE
Good to have accurate reports of something relevant from the Main Line of Contact.
lincolnman
More fairly tales from the Kremlin's Potemkin Village Ministry of Disinformation...
Anything to deflect from a third of Putin's strategic bomber force going up in flames...
FizzBit
No NATO in Ukraine, no Russia in Ukraine. Simple. Only warmongers dig this crap.
JJE
He has outlined the terms and conditions multiple times for a decent ceasefire.
Interesting no immediate comment from Kyiv on the loss of that region. Sometimes silence speaks volumes.
Now that region is all bottled up, it'll be interesting to see where the focus of activity shifts. An obvious candidate is next door in Donetsk region with the double-envelopment of Kostiantynivka and the Pokrovsk-Myrnohrad zones unfolding.
TaiwanIsNotChina
There are no NATO troops in Ukraine. Simple as.
TaiwanIsNotChina
There is nothing decent about trying to take away a democratic country's independence. Particularly in the name of empire.
TaiwanIsNotChina
You do know that russia has 140 million people, right? And there is nothing pointless about Ukraine fighting for its independence.
stormcrow
Did Putin send a thank you note to Trump for his cooperation?
JJE
Also important to observe the governor of that region mentioned is a native of the capital city and was involved in local government administration from when that city/region first seceded from Kyiv's control in 2014.
All the maps indicate the veracity of the initial reporting is accurate with regards to territorial status of the region too. Considering these two factors, inclined to conclude it is valid.
Some dude
So, three years and more to take one region, and this is on the highly dubious assumption that they're telling the truth.
Russia will literally never stop this aggression unless they are forced to, by either economic or military means (or both). Given that Trump is apparently now unfreezing sanctions on Russian banks (presumably on orders from Putin), then that only leaves military. You can forget about diplomatic means too.
The rest of the world has to step up. History suggests that they won't; like I heard in a song once, "everyone cares, but only enough to buy a sticker". Otherwise we will continue with our impressive record of letting evil win.
TaiwanIsNotChina
under russian invasion. FTFY
JJE
Also, the Russia-appointed official, who is mentioned in the first sentence of the article, is not just native to the area but with high rank and distinction served in the Security Service of Ukraine once upon a time, before the outbreak of civil unrest/war in 2014, during of which he sided with the secessionists. After that he was a senior minister in the independent LPR administration, relating to security matters, as such knows the lay of the land well. Safe to conclude the nature and longevity of his experience in governance at the regional level, the assertion he made of territorial acquisition is a decent one grounded in reality.
isabelle
Really? Then, they're sorely mistaken.
You see, it is a unilateral, unprovoked war of conquest by Putin and Putin alone.
(I agree with you that Putin's actions are pointless, though.)
What Putin has outlined are surrender terms that give him everything he wants, despite his sickening actions breaking international law, the UN Charter, and the Geneva Convention.
No deal, Kremlin war criminals.
bass4funk
I know that Ukraine won’t win this war.
TaiwanIsNotChina
Yes because of your stunning military knowledge. You are probably right up there with Blacklabel wondering why ammunition has to be resupplied.
wallace
bass4funk
Because your country and team let them down badly.
bass4funk
And Europe let us down with Mexico
wallace
bass4funk
Because your country and team let them down badly.
What is it you expected Europe to do with Mexico? I never realized the US was at war with Mexico.
bass4funk
Help us
In theory it is
wallace
bass4funk
What is it you expected Europe to do with Mexico?
Help you with what exactly?
I never realized the US was at war with Mexico.
Peter14
Time for all allies and all NATO and all EU to send troops, arms and equipment into Ukraine to clear out all Russian Terrorists. Capture them or push them back to Russian territory or kill them. Do not stop until all are gone from Ukraine. Doing anything else is a win for Putin and for Russia.
Not 1 inch of Ukraine territory in Russian hands. If Russia wins here they will keep going at another nations expense, one at a time. Strength in numbers. USE that fact.