Vladimir Putin’s troops have broken through the defences of Ukrainian forces in several parts of the Luhansk region, said the Russian Defense Ministry. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, “the Ukrainian troops retreated to a distance of up to 3 kilometres from the previously occupied lines.” According to Moscow, even Ukraine’s more fortified second line of defence could not withstand the Russian military’s breakthrough.Kyiv has been reporting increasingly heavy Russian shelling along the frontline. Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky, said that the situation is extremely tough now as a “fierce battle is being fought for every metre of Ukrainian land.”