Russian troops broke through defense lines of Ukrainian troops in the eastern region of Lugansk, which were forced to withdraw up to three kilometers, the Russian defense ministry said on Wednesday.
“The motorized infantry of the Central Military Region broke through the enemy’s willing defenses in a wooded area of the Lugansk People’s Republic,” the ministry said. in a statement published on the social network Telegram.
According to the note Ukrainian troops “moved in disarray up to three kilometers from the positions they occupied”.
The ministry stressed that the enemy’s second line of defense, even stronger than the first, did not resist the advance of Russian troops.
“Ukrainian fighters hastily left their positions, without taking their equipment and dead,” added the note, which did not specify in which region of Lugansk the advance of Russian troops took place.
The regions of Lugansk and Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine, as well as those of Zaporijia and Kherson, in the south, were annexed by Russia on September 30, although Moscow does not control all of these areas.
The Russian military offensive on Ukrainian territory, launched on February 24 last year, plunged Europe into what is considered the most serious security crisis since World War II (1939-1945).
The Russian invasion – justified by the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russian security – was condemned by the international community at large, which responded by sending arms to Ukraine and to impose on Russia political and economic sanctions.
Source: DN
