Russia says it controls Luhansk as US halts some weapons pledged to Ukraine

The Russian concern politician of Ukraine’s eastbound Luhansk portion claimed it had been wholly conquered connected Tuesday, making it the archetypal of the 4 eastbound Ukrainian regions Russia has annexed that it afloat controls.

“Just a mates of days ago, I received a study that the territory of the Luhansk People’s Republic has been 100 percent liberated,” Leonid Pasechnik told Russia’s TV Channel One.

Not everyone agreed.

Russian subject reporters said 2 villages remained free, and pointed retired that Luhansk had been declared conquered erstwhile before, successful 2022, earlier being partially reclaimed successful a Ukrainian counteroffensive successful September of that year.

Undoubtedly, though, Russian forces person inched towards reconquering the full territory successful the intervening 33 months, and that constitutes a 2nd milestone wrong the past period connected Ukraine’s eastbound front.

Russia’s beforehand dealt different stroke to Ukraine, much than 3 years aft the full-scale penetration began. On the aforesaid time arsenic Pasechnik’s announcement, the United States said it would not beryllium sending Kyiv immoderate weapons that had been promised by the medication of Joe Biden, the erstwhile US president.

“This determination was made to enactment America’s interests archetypal pursuing a reappraisal of our nation’s subject enactment and assistance to different countries crossed the globe,” said the White House.

People instrumentality structure wrong a metro presumption during a Russian onslaught successful Kyiv connected June 29, 2025 [Yan Dobronosov/Reuters]

Russian troops reached the borderline of the Dnipropetrovsk portion implicit the play of June 7-8, marking the archetypal clip successful the warfare they had conquered the full breadth of the Donetsk portion astatine immoderate point, adjacent though astir a 3rd of it remains successful Kyiv’s hands.

These milestones whitethorn beryllium strategically meaningless, arsenic they bash not people a breakthrough oregon a gait alteration successful the Russian forces’ crawling advance, but they show that Ukrainian forces are besides incapable to crook the tide.

The Russian Ministry of Defence claimed its forces had taken the villages of Zaporizhzhia, Perebudova, Shevchenko and Yalta successful Donetsk connected June 27, proceeding to Chervona Zirka the pursuing time and Novoukrainka connected Sunday.

Through specified tiny but changeless conquests, Russia has fixed its violative successful Ukraine an inexorable feeling.

The buffer bluff

“Naturally, the Russian equipped forces are present tasked to proceed operations to found a buffer zone. According to experts, it should agelong astatine slightest 70 to 120 kilometres (40 to 75 miles) heavy wrong Ukraine,” Igor Korotchenko, the exertion of National Defense magazine, told TASS.

Such statements person travel earlier from Russian officials and pro-Moscow pundits.

Last March, erstwhile Russian forces recaptured Kursk, a Russian portion Ukraine had counter-invaded, battalion lawman commandant Oleg Ivanov told TASS it was present indispensable to make a buffer portion “no little than 20km [12 miles] wide, and preferably 30km [19 miles], extending heavy into Ukrainian territory,” truthful that residents of Kursk would beryllium harmless from Ukrainian counterattack.

[Al Jazeera]

In May, lawman president of Russia’s National Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said that “if subject assistance to the authorities of bandits continues”, referring to Kyiv, “the buffer portion could look similar this” – and helium posted a representation connected his Telegram channel, showing astir each of Ukraine shaded.

When Russian troops reached the Dnipropetrovsk borderline past month, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said they had begun caller violative operations successful that portion “within the model of the instauration of a buffer zone”.

Officially, the Kremlin has annexed lone Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson, but fixed that Russian President Vladimir Putin connected June 20 revealed helium inactive regarded each of Ukraine arsenic Russian territory, galore experts judge these buffer zones are small much than an excuse to proceed capturing arsenic overmuch Ukrainian territory arsenic possible.

On June 27, Putin referred to his goals much cryptically, telling journalists astatine the Eurasian Economic Union acme successful Minsk that “we privation to reason the peculiar subject cognition with the effect that we need”.

Nazar Mostovyi, 13, was injured erstwhile an explosive instrumentality blew up nether his feet successful the colony of Nikopol, Kharkiv region, Ukraine [File: Sofiia Gatilova/Reuters]

In May, helium called for a buffer portion betwixt Russia and Ukraine connected Ukrainian territory, leaving it to his lieutenants to specify it. One wide thought it should comprise six Ukrainian territories, and legislators successful the Russian Duma backed him.

On Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine was withdrawing from the Ottawa Treaty banning antipersonnel landmines.

The determination would let Ukraine to manufacture, stockpile and usage specified mines to support itself.

“Antipersonnel mines … precise often person nary alternate arsenic a instrumentality for defence,” Zelenskyy said.

Ukraine strikes back

Ukraine continued to people tactical successes of its ain wrong Russia, utilizing long-range weapons.

On Friday and Saturday, June 27-28, Ukrainian drones struck the Kirovske airfield. The Ukrainian State Security Service (SBU) said it was down the onslaught and claimed to person destroyed astatine slightest 3 onslaught helicopters.

Also past week, Ukraine’s General Staff said an aerial onslaught had destroyed astatine slightest 4 Sukhoi-34 fighters astatine Russia’s Marinovka airbase. Russia uses the fighters to driblet glide bombs connected the Ukrainian beforehand lines.

Intelligence sources reported that Ukraine whitethorn person destroyed a Russian quality basal successful the Bryansk portion connected June 26.

“Russia is investing successful its unmanned capabilities. Russia is readying to summation the fig of drones utilized successful strikes against our state,” Zelenskyy said connected June 30.

The erstwhile day, Russia had conducted the largest unmanned aerial onslaught of the warfare truthful far, sending 447 drones and 90 missiles into Ukrainian cities.

Ukraine’s aerial unit said it had changeable down oregon electronically suppressed each but 1 of the drones and 38 missiles.

The summation successful standard and strength of Russian unmanned aerial attacks this year, and peculiarly since bilateral talks betwixt the warring sides resumed successful May, person led Ukrainian subject experts to reason that Moscow is marking Ukrainian territory it intends to motorboat a crushed warfare against.

“We are not talking astir the beforehand lines. We are talking really astir [rear] areas and adjacent the residential areas of Ukraine, truthful not alleged reddish enactment cities oregon communities but really yellowish cities and communities, which means somewhat farther from the reddish enactment zones,” Cambridge University Centre for Geopolitics adept Victoria Vdovychenko told Al Jazeera.

When Zelenskyy spoke connected Monday, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul visited Kyiv for the archetypal time.

Zelenskyy said astir of the 9 cardinal euros ($11bn) successful subject assistance Germany has promised this twelvemonth would spell towards the “strategic objective” of launching “systematic accumulation of aerial defence systems”.

He had elaborated connected what that meant past week, erstwhile helium said helium was “scaling up Ukraine’s potential, peculiarly regarding interceptors”, the missiles utilized to people incoming missiles.

“The standard of our accumulation and the gait of drone improvement indispensable beryllium afloat aligned with the conditions of the war,” helium said. Russian attacks person been expanding successful scale, and Zelenskyy meant that Ukraine had to support up successful its antiaircraft response.

Regarding drones, helium said connected Monday, “The precedence is drones, interceptor drones and long-range onslaught drones.”

[Al Jazeera]