KIEV LOST CONTROL OF THE WHOLE LUHANSK REGION

On July 3, the whole territory of the Luhansk People’s Republic came under control of Russian-led forces. The last settlements that were held by the Armed Forces of Ukraine were taken by Russian units and People’s Militia of the LPR. The last stronghold of Kiev’s forces in the Republic was in Belogorovka which fell under LPR control on July 3. Russian Defense Minister reported to the Russian President about the complete liberation of the Luhansk People’s Republic from Ukrainian armed formations. In his turn, the head of the Republic, solemnly addressed to local citizens congratulating them on the end of eight-years struggle. The recent advances allowed Russian–led forces to advance towards the city of Seversk. The representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the LPR announced the beginning of the battle for the city. So far, Ukrainian units left the villages of Serebryanka and Grigorovka. Fighting continues in Dronovka. To the south, Russian forces are approaching the city of Bakhmut also known as Artemovsk. They already took control of the village of Klinovo and are fighting for control of Pokrovskoye. The Seversk-Soledar-Bakhmut front line will be the main battlefield of the war in Ukraine in the coming weeks. The Armed Forces of Ukraine will try their best to bring down the pace of the Russian offensive in order to turn the fighting east of Slavyansk into a positional phase. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military is attempting to distract the enemy, continuously shelling civilians in the Donetsk and Luhansk Peoples’ Republics as well as on the Russian territory. On July 3, Ukrainian forces used drones packed with explosives and mortars to attack border villages in the Russian Kursk region. On the same day, Ukraine carried out a bloody attack on the city of Belgorod. Ukrainian Tochka-U missiles struck the city center, at least one of which reached the target. As a result, four civilians were killed; three of them were refugees from the Ukrainian Kharkiv region. The Russian response was swift. The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation hit enemy positions in the villages of the Sumy region bordering Russia. In early the hours on July 4, Russian forces launched missile strikes on the Ukrainian military facilities in the city of Kharkiv. According to preliminary data, one of the bases of Ukrainian servicemen in the Shevchenko district of the city was destroyed. Ukrainian facilities in Kramatorsk and Slavyansk were also hit by Russian missiles. A large explosion was reported in Dnepropetrovsk earlier today. Missile strikes In Mykolaiv disabled infrastructure facilities that provided logistics and supplied to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. 2 mercenary bases were destroyed. In the Odessa region, Russian forces hit several positions of Ukrainian forces in the Belgorod-Dniester area.