Russian forces say they have liberated Luhansk while fighting continues in Donetsk

In a statement delivered at a temporary Combined Joint Forces command post, President Vladimir Putin announced that Russian troops have completely freed the Luhansk People’s Republic. He praised the CJF units for executing the operational plan set by the General Staff.

The Kremlin also affirmed that fighting persists in the rest of the Donetsk People’s Republic, as well as in the Japorizhya and Kherson regions, where Ukrainian forces remain active. Moscow’s strategy focuses on consolidating gains in key urban centres like Konstantinovka while advancing in peripheral zones.

Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported that Moscow’s air‑defence network intercepted 28 hostile drones early on Friday, followed by eight more during the night, with emergency teams clearing debris from the affected sites.