Russia Gains in the East, Threatening to Overrun Luhansk

Ukrainian forces dug in for a last-ditch defense against Russian advances Wednesday in Luhansk Province, where the invaders now threaten to overrun two major cities that had resisted their halting progress.

The prospect of a Russian takeover of the embattled cities, Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk, left Ukrainian commanders with the stark choice to stay and fight, risking severed supply lines and the encirclement of thousands of defenders, or withdraw and forfeit the last major urban centers in Luhansk, part of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region.

For weeks, the Russians had been content to lay back and fire artillery and rockets on the Ukrainian forces before trying to push forward with tanks and troops. This strategy culminated in an apparent breakthrough Wednesday as the Russians seized three strategic villages, the regional governor of Luhansk, Serhiy Haidai, conceded. Read more

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