Taken full control of Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine: Russia

MOSCOW, Apr 1: The Russian Defence Ministry said on Wednesday that its forces had taken full control of the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine, suggesting they had wrested control of a small sliver of land which had remained beyond their reach since 2022.

Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield report and a Ukrainian military spokesperson said there had been no battlefield changes in the area in the last six months.

More than 99% of Luhansk, one of four Ukrainian regions Russia claimed as its own in 2022 - something Kyiv and most Western countries have rejected as an illegal land grab - has long been under Russian control.

"Units of the 'West' military grouping have completed the liberation of the Luhansk People's Republic," the Defence Ministry said in a statement, using Moscow's preferred name for the region.    �"REUTERS