A guerrilla movement has begun to operate in the Lugansk region in eastern Ukraine; members of underground organisations are not only distributing anti-Russian leaflets but also destroying infrastructure facilities, which is slowing down the enemy’s combat operations and making it more difficult for them to conquer the area, the head of the regional government Serhiy Hayday, who is loyal to Kyiv, announced.
The governor confirmed earlier reports that Ukrainian troops were successfully defending two points of resistance in the western part of the region. “Nothing has changed in this regard for several weeks now,” notified Hayday, quoted by the UNIAN agency.
The head of the regional administration once again sounded the alarm that the humanitarian situation in Russian-controlled towns was critical.
“Where combat operations have continued (including in Severodonetsk and Lysychansk), it will not be possible (in winter) to restore heating. (…) Even if heating lines were brought to the main towns, (heating installations) in the flats have been destroyed. It is not possible to connect gas, as this would result in fires and explosions,” Hayday explained.
On 25 June, Russian troops occupied Severodonetsk and on 3 July Lysychansk, the two largest towns in the Luhansk region that were still under the control of the government in Kyiv. As regional authorities loyal to Ukraine have reported in recent weeks, the invaders have failed to capture the entire Lugansk region – fighting is still ongoing in the towns of Biylohorivka and Verkhniokamyanka in the western part of the Lugansk region, near the border with the Donetsk region.
According to most analysts, the next targets of the Russian assault could be Bakhmut in the north of the Donbas, as well as the nearby towns of Kramatorsk and Slovyansk.