The province of Luhansk forms the industrial Donbas region that has become the focus of the Kremlin's war offensive after it failed to capture the capital Kyiv, and recently was pushed back from its positions around Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, in the northeast.
Russia has failed to make much progress in the Donbas for weeks, and has now scaled back its ambitions after originally intending to take full control of the region. Russian troops are advancing behind intense bombardment, and the offensive seems to be fruition.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his overnight address that the Russians were trying to ramp up pressure in the Donbas, which they had destroyed completely. He said it was hell there. It is not an exaggeration. Ukraine s military reported in its Friday morning update that Moscow s troops had intensified offensive and assault operations to improve the situation in the Donetsk direction, using mortars, artillery, multiple-rocket launchers and aircraft.
However, there were clear signs of Russian progress in Luhansk. The military and regional governor Serhiy Haidai both said that invading troops were conducting an offensive in the areas around Lysychansk and Severodonetsk, two key cities in the Luhansk province.
The Ukrainian military said Russian forces were trying to improve the tactical position of their units near Volodymyrivka. He said that Russian forces did breach through some of the Ukrainian defenses gathered around the strategic location, which is about 9 miles west of Popasna.
The Institute for the Study of War, a U.S. military think tank, also said in its most recent assessment that Russian forces are intensifying operations to advance north and west of Popasna in preparation for an offensive toward Severodonetsk. Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoihu stated Friday that Russian forces were expanding their control over the Donbas in a move that appeared to be a reference to these advances.
This comes as Moscow is likely to strengthen its forces in the Donbas once it secures the southern port city of Mariupol, the U.K. defense ministry said Friday after months of being tied up by the last pocket of Ukraine's resistance in the city.
Experts said it was too early to talk about a change in the tide in the battle for the Donbas, despite the Russian advances being notable.
It's about whether it can be sustained and pushed forward, said Phillips O Brien, professor of strategic studies at the University of St Andrews in Scotland.
It is a sign of a hugely stripped-down offense, which went from trying to take a big area of the Donbas at the beginning to just snipping off the tip of the Ukrainian position, O Brien said.
He said that at least the Russians have shown the strength to push forward for the first time in a while.