According to Ukrainians, Russia may have taken over some settlements, but what matters is “winning the war, not the battle”
In an attempt to take Luhansk province in Donbass, eastern Ukraine, Russian troops advanced on a highway leading to Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk. The domination of the two cities would give Russia power over almost all of Luhansk, achieving one of the main Russian military objectives in the war in Ukraine.
The governor of Luhansk, Serhiy Gaidai, said on Thursday (26.May.2022) that the offensives were carried out by thousands of soldiers, from 3 different points. According to Gaidai, a group of around 50 Russian soldiers arrived at the highway that gives access to the locality and “managed to sign”, establishing a checkpoint, but retreated.
“The checkpoint was broken, they were sent back.”said the governor. “The Russian army does not control the route now, but they are bombing.”
Also according to Gaidai, with the approach of the Russian military, Ukrainian troops may have to leave behind”1 settlement, maybe 2. We need to win the war, not the battle”, declared the governor of the province.
“Russia has the upper hand, but we’re doing all we can” said General Oleksiy Gromov, deputy head of the operations department of the General Staff of Ukraine.
After the failed attempt to take Kiev, Russian soldiers advance through southeastern Ukraine. The main objective at the moment is to capture the breakaway region of Donbass, considered strategic by Russia for having an outlet to the Black Sea and giving access to Crimea, annexed by the Russians in 2014.
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