AP: Russia announces full control of the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine, occupying about 20% of Ukraine's territory
AP reported on June 30 that the Russian-appointed leader of the Luhansk region, Leonid Pasechnik, announced on Monday that the Russian army has "100% controlled" the area. With this, Russia has fully controlled the first of four regions in Ukraine that it annexed in September 2022. These four regions include Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, covering an area of about 109,000 square kilometers, which is nearly 20% of Ukraine's total territory.
Ukrainian government has not responded to this yet. Military analysts pointed out that if the statement is true, it means that the Russian army has made important progress on the eastern front. According to data from the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the Russian army has launched 20-30 ground attacks per day in the area recently, and continues to conduct artillery bombardment. On the same day, Russian President Putin held a meeting on the socio-economic development of the four annexed regions at the Kremlin.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visited Kyiv on the same day and said that Germany will speed up the delivery of weapons to Ukraine. "When Putin talks about peace, it's just mockery," Baerbock said at a press conference. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called on the West to provide more air defense systems. According to statistics from the Ukrainian Air Force, Russian forces have launched over 500 missiles and drones of various types in the past week. Experts from the Kyiv International Institute for Strategic Studies pointed out that Russia is trying to gain leverage for subsequent negotiations by controlling these areas.
Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1836408578266124/
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