Russians only advancing in areas they’ve destroyed

As part of its latest onslaught, Russian forces are placing strong pressure on the front lines in Luhansk, Ukraine’s easternmost oblast.

Luhansk was rocked by fighting over the weekend.

There were gunfights and villages hammered by artillery strikes.

The Ukrainian military said on Sunday that it was continuing to fortify the east in the face of massive assaults.

Russia maintains its two-week-old advance into the country’s industrial heartland, bringing in more weaponry and military equipment.

Serhiy Hayday, the commander of the Luhansk region military administration, told Ukrainian television that Russian forces were destroying towns along the region’s front lines before pushing ahead.

Ukrainian officials say, “Strategically speaking, the only place they [Russians] can advance in is the areas they have completely destroyed. So they completely destroyed the whole of Novotoshkivka, there was no place to hold the defense — and they occupied it.”

Hayday said, “In Kreminna, we understood that if we just held on to the land, the boys would die, and there would be no harm to the enemy, so we regrouped and left.”

“Rubizhne was destroyed very badly, but it cannot be said that they completely occupied the city, because there are lines of defense on the outskirts and our guys not only keep the defense there, but also constantly harm the enemy.”