Its troops, along with pro-Russian forces, captured the town of Popasna in eastern Ukraine’s Lugansk region, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement today. According to the ministry, they completed the “denationalization” of the city and broke through the enemy’s defenses. According to the Russians, the “administrative border of the Lugansk People’s Republic”, a separatist territory, has been reached.

The Defense of Ukraine did not mention advances in Lugansk in its report, but noted that Russian troops “conduct offensive operations in the east of our country in order to maintain full control over the territory of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions and maintain a land corridor between them.” these lands and the occupied Crimea”.

The Russian war, which enters its 76th day today with officials in Odessa, in southern Ukraine, has left at least one person dead and five injured after seven missile attacks. Yesterday, the Defense of Ukraine had already warned of the increase in the number of Russian missiles in the Black Sea region.

“The ‘Russian world’ congratulated the Heroic City of Odessa on May 9 by launching seven missiles,” said the mayor of the city, Gennady Trukhanov. A shopping mall and warehouses were hit, according to Ukraine’s emergency service.

“There is a high probability of missile strikes on civilian and military infrastructure throughout Ukraine,” the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said today.

To go forward

Not surprisingly, after not seeing Russia announced yesterday that it is intensifying its attacks on Ukraine, the Ukrainian government and its allies have already begun to analyze what new scenarios could be.

For Vadim Denysenko, Russian President Vladimir Putin, an adviser to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, would have two options: “Negotiate or declare full mobilization in Russia”. According to him, at the moment, Russian equipment is concentrated in the Crimea, and 19 Russian tactical groups will be located in the Kharkov region, the second largest city in Ukraine.

Yesterday, US President Joe Biden said he was concerned that Putin had no way out of the war. The expectation is that the Americans will speed up arms deliveries to Ukraine.

“Russia’s invasion plan is very likely to be based on the mistaken assumption that it will meet limited resistance and can quickly surround and circumvent population centres,” British Defense Ministry intelligence said today. This miscalculation led to unsustainable losses and subsequently a reduction in Russia’s operational focus.”

damages

Russia announced that at least 120 Ukrainian soldiers were killed in the attack on Popasna. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, a total of 380 casualties were lost in actions between yesterday and today on the territory of Ukraine. Meanwhile, Ukraine said it had killed 350 Russian fighters.

The numbers of both Ukrainians and Russians could not be verified by independent sources.

(via Reuters and RFI)