DNIPRO, Ukraine — Russia claimed near-victory Tuesday in its fight for part of an eastern Ukrainian industrial region whose capture is one of Moscow’s main stated war aims, as Ukraine acknowledged that it was waging a tough battle to keep one of its last cities there from falling.
In the fourth month of the Russian invasion, Ukraine redoubled its pleas for more heavy weaponry to parry slow and grinding advances by Moscow’s troops, which are backed by relentless artillery fire, in the contested region known as the Donbas, made up of two eastern provinces, Luhansk and Donetsk.
Moscow’s triumphal claim came from Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who said in televised remarks that 97% of Luhansk had been “liberated” by Russian forces.
