Russia says Moscow now occupies all of Ukraine’s Luhansk region, illegally annexed in 2022

A Russia-appointed official in Ukraine’s occupied Luhansk region said Monday that Moscow’s forces have overrun all of it — one of four regions Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in September 2022 despite not fully controlling a single one.

If confirmed, that would make Luhansk the first Ukrainian region fully occupied by Russia after more than three years of war and as recent U.S.-led international peace efforts have failed to make progress on halting the fighting.

Vladimir Putin has effectively rejected a ceasefire and hasn’t budged from his demands, which include Moscow’s control over the four illegally annexed regions.