Russians intend to capture entire Luhansk Region before presidential election in russia - Skibitskyi

The russian occupiers intend to seize a part of the Luhansk Region controlled by Ukraine before the presidential election in the russian federation, which will be held in mid-March this year.

The representative of the Defense Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Vadym Skibitskyi, announced this in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

"Before the election, they specifically want to reach at least the administrative borders of the Luhansk Region. To have some success, something like Avdiivka, maybe somewhere else in some direction. The key points are: Kupiansk, Lyman, Avdiivka," said Skibitskyi.

According to him, the russians really want to re-occupy Kupiansk (Kharkiv Region) and Lyman (Donetsk Region) in order to show that they managed to recover previously lost territories.

Skibitskyi added that for the russians it will be symbolic. Also, the kremlin's propaganda machine uses such "victories" in information and psychological operations.

The city of Kupiansk in the Kharkiv Region was occupied by russian troops on February 27, 2022 (on the third day after the start of a full-scale invasion). It was possible to liberate the settlement in mid-September of the same year.

Lyman, Donetsk Region, located 80 kilometers south of Kupiansk, was under the control of russian troops on May 28, 2022. The city was freed as a result of the autumn counter-offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kharkiv Region on October 1, 2022.

It should be noted that currently the Defense Forces of Ukraine control a small part of the Luhansk Region, which was de-occupied during the 2022 counteroffensive.

Recall that earlier Skibitskyi said that along the border with Ukraine, the russians deployed 48 Iskander missile launchers.