According to reports, on July 3, local time, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced that the last batch of Ukrainian troops had been driven out of Luhansk. The Russian army and pro-Russian armed forces had fully controlled the city of Lisichansk. He had already reported to Putin President reported the relevant situation.
As one of the sources of contradictions in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Lugansk region has always been a key area of contention between Russia and Ukraine. In particular, the city of Lisichansk is the key to the Russian army's control of Luhansk.
After more than two months of fighting in the Lugansk area, the Russian army basically controlled the area, but some Ukrainian troops still did not evacuate from the city of Lischichansk.
Over the past few days, under the fierce offensive of the Russian army and pro-Russian armed forces, the Ukrainian armed forces have been retreating steadily, and finally had to evacuate the city of Lischichansk.
Although the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that the Russian army has taken full control of Luhansk, Ukraine is still talking hard. Yuri Sak, adviser to the Ukrainian Minister of Defense, also said in an interview on July 3 that the city of Lischichansk was not completely controlled by the Russian army.
But on the evening of July 3, Ukrainian President Zelensky released a video speech, saying that Kiev had commanded the Ukrainian armed forces from Lischichansk. In other words, Zelensky acknowledged the fact that the Russian army had taken control of Lischichansk.
But at the same time, Zelensky did not forget to speak harshly to Russia. According to reports, in a video speech that night, Zelensky emphasized that the withdrawal of the Ukrainian army from Lischichansk does not mean that Ukraine has failed, because the Ukrainian army will return to the area again.
Zelensky said that the Russian army will focus its firepower on the front lines of Donbass , but the Ukrainian army will rely on tactics and weapons assistance from Western countries to retake the area again.
He said that Ukraine will use long-range weapons to fight back against the Russian army, such as the Haimas high-performance rocket launcher system provided by the United States. With the increase in Western aid weapons, Ukraine will surely regain the Luhansk region, including Lischichansk.
Just after Zelensky vowed to fight back against Russia, the Russian border city of Belgorod was attacked by missiles from Ukraine late that night.
According to reports, on the evening of July 3rd local time, Belgorod, a Russian border city close to Ukraine, was suddenly attacked by Ukrainian missiles.
reported that after the Ukrainian army launched missiles, the alarm of the air defense system on the Russian border was triggered, but it did not successfully intercept all the missiles. Therefore, an explosion occurred after the missile attack in the city of Belgorod.
The Russian army later confirmed that the Ukrainian army launched multiple "Dot" ballistic missiles towards Belgorod, hitting residential areas in Belgorod and causing dozens of casualties.
According to the latest data, this attack caused damage to more than 60 residences in Belgorod, and many of them were razed to the ground.
It is reported that since April, the city of Belgorod has been frequently attacked by Ukraine, which has caused many injuries and deaths before. However, this is the first time that a large-scale attack has been carried out using missiles.
In response, Russian Duma members of the Russian Duma condemned Ukraine’s indiscriminate attacks on civilians in Russia and vowed to retaliate against Ukraine.
Analysts believe that Ukraine's move is obviously retaliation for the Russian army's full control of the Luhansk region, but Russia is obviously not easy to mess with and will inevitably retaliate against Ukraine.
Moreover, since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, one of the reasons for the slow progress of the Russian army is that it has not carried out indiscriminate attacks on Ukrainian civilians. But now Ukraine is carrying out indiscriminate attacks on civilians in Russia in order to retaliate against Russia.
This will not only lead to Russian retaliation, but will also cause Ukraine to be condemned by international public opinion. Therefore, Ukrainian missile attacks on Russian border cities are not worth the gain. If Kiev still has sense, it should negotiate peace with Russia as soon as possible instead of continuing to provoke Russia, which will only make Ukraine face a greater crisis.
