Russia claims full control of Ukraine’s Luhansk region but Kyiv denies
it ahead of US envoy talks
[April 02, 2026]
Russia’s armed forces have taken control of the entire
Luhansk region of Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed
Wednesday, but a Kyiv military official denied the claim as Ukrainian
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy prepared for talks with U.S. envoys trying
to mediate an end to Moscow’s invasion.
“Units of the Group of Forces West have completed the liberation of the
Luhansk People’s Republic,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a
statement.
However, the spokesperson for Ukraine's Joint Forces grouping, Viktor
Trehubov, said there were no changes to report in that region.
“Unfortunately, we only hold small patches there (in Luhansk), but those
positions have been held by 3rd brigade for a long time,” Trehubov told
The Associated Press by phone.
Russian claims of battlefield progress have in the past shown
discrepancies. The Moscow-appointed head of Luhansk announced its full
capture last June.
Ukrainian officials have in the past said that Moscow makes false claims
of advances to persuade U.S. negotiators that a Russian victory in
Ukraine is inevitable.
U.S.-led diplomatic efforts over the past year to stop the fighting, now
in its fifth year, have so far failed to break the deadlock on key
sticking points, and Washington’s attentions are currently focused on
the Iran war.
Zelenskyy said he would hold a video call later Wednesday with U.S.
President Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to
discuss the possibility of further trilateral negotiations.
Russia illegally annexed four eastern regions of Ukraine — Luhansk as
well as Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia — in September 2022, but it
never fully controlled them.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said last October that Ukrainian forces
still held 0.13% of Luhansk. He has demanded that Ukrainian troops
withdraw from the four eastern regions as a key condition for a peace
deal. Ukraine has rejected that demand.
Zelenskyy said Wednesday that front-line combat is fierce amid a Russian
spring offensive, but claimed that Ukrainian forces are holding their
ground.
“The situation on the frontline is currently quite tense — the Russian
army is trying to step up its assault activity,” he said on X.
It was not possible to independently verify either side's battlefield
claims.
The Institute for the Study of War said Ukrainian tactics are likely
disrupting efforts to advance by Russia’s bigger army.
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In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Services on
Wednesday, April 1, 2026, rescue workers put out a fire at a
residential building damaged in a Russian strike in Lutsk, Ukraine.
(Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
The Washington-based think tank also said late Tuesday that in
recent months Ukrainian forces have made “their most significant
gains on the battlefield” since an incursion into Russia’s Kursk
region in August 2024 and a 2023 counteroffensive.
Russia’s invasion has also taken a heavy toll on Ukrainian
civilians, with more than 15,000 killed in the war so far, according
to the United Nations.
A Russian drone strike killed four people in Ukraine’s central
Cherkasy region Wednesday, regional governor Ihor Taburets said. The
attack hit an open area in Zolotonosha, some 150 kilometers (90
miles), southeast of the capital.
Russian drones also damaged sites in western Ukraine near the Polish
border early Wednesday, including an industrial facility in the city
of Lutsk, some 400 kilometers (250 miles) west of Kyiv.
Mayor Ihor Polishchuk said a postal sorting center and food
distribution site were damaged, while falling drone debris also set
fire to a residential building. Emergency services reported no
casualties.
Ukraine’s air force said it downed 298 drones – mostly
Iranian-designed Shahed drones and cheaper variants – in overnight
attacks launched from multiple areas in western Russia and Crimea,
while 20 drones hit 11 sites nationwide.
Ukraine has developed advance drone technology to counter Russian
barrages and is offering to help Gulf countries block Iranian drone
attacks.
Zelenskyy said Wednesday on X that Ukraine is “engaged in
substantive cooperation” with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates
and Qatar amid the Middle East conflict.
Officials are also in consultations with Jordan and are in contact
with Bahrain, Kuwait, and Iraq, he said.
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