Russian cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station celebrated Russia’s takeover of Luhansk Oblast in eastern Ukraine – a cornerstone for Moscow in the war, reports “Reuters”.
The Russian space agency Roscosmos described the capture of the area as “a day of liberation to be celebrated both on Earth and in space”.
The agency published photos of the smiling cosmonauts Oleg Artemiev, Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov holding the flags of the self-proclaimed Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics.
This is a long-awaited day that the residents of the occupied areas of Luhansk region have been waiting for eight years, Roscosmos wrote in Telegram.
We are convinced that July 3, 2022 will forever remain in the history of the LPR, adds the agency.
Yesterday, Russia announced that Russian and separatist forces had taken over full control over the Luhansk region, after they took over and the last big city of Lisichansk.
Zelensky: We will take back the occupied Luhansk region
The Ukrainian army does not give up attacking
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Ukraine, which vowed to regain lost territory, reported that its troops had withdrawn from their last remaining bastion in the district to save the lives of their soldiers. Kyiv has indicated that its troops will regroup to launch a counteroffensive using long-range Western weapons.
After being repulsed in its initial attempt to capture the capital Kyiv in February, Russia has focused on pushing Ukrainian forces out of eastern Luhansk and Donetsk regions, where Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting Kyiv since Russia’s first military intervention in Ukraine in 2014.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not congratulate his American colleague Joe Biden on the occasion of the Independence Day of the USA – July 4.
They are the reason the “hostile” actions of Washington towards Moscow.
Congratulations this year can hardly be considered appropriate, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters during a conference call. The reason is the hostile policy of the United States, he specified.
