Russian forces have taken full control of Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region, the Defence Ministry in Moscow claimed on Wednesday, marking a potential turning point in the grinding war.
The ministry said its troops also captured two additional settlements — Verkhnyaya Pisarevka in the Kharkiv region and Boykovo in Zaporizhzhia — as fighting continued along multiple fronts.
Ukraine has not yet responded to the claims, which could not be independently verified.
Moscow also said Ukrainian forces mounted a significant aerial defence effort, shooting down 10 guided bombs, a rocket fired from a US-made HIMARS system, and 261 drones in the previous day.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian drone strikes appear to be hitting deeper into Russian infrastructure, with US media reporting a 43 percent drop in oil exports from Baltic ports following recent attacks.
