KYIV (Dispatches) - Russia said on Wednesday it had broken through two fortified Ukrainian defense lines on the eastern front, as Kyiv described conditions there as difficult and Western allies announced more military aid, including increased supplies of artillery rounds.
The ministry did not specify in which part of the Luhansk region the offensive took place.
The ministry added that its “Southern group”, backed by artillery, was waging an offensive in the direction of Donetsk.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office said Ukrainian forces had repelled some Russian attacks in Luhansk but added: “The situation in the region remains difficult.”
Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Haidai said Russia was pouring heavy equipment and mobilized troops into Luhansk.
“The attacks are coming from different directions in waves,” Haidai said. But he added: “Those who spread the information that allegedly our defense forces have pulled back beyond the line of the administrative border (of Luhansk) - this does not correspond to reality.”
Russia has intensified attacks across a swathe of southern and eastern Ukraine in recent weeks, and a major new offensive has been widely anticipated.
Moscow’s main effort has been focused on the town of Bakhmut in Donetsk province adjacent to Luhansk.

U.S. Military Support for Ukraine Fanning Flames of Conflict

The Russia Ukraine war is approaching its first anniversary, a war in which thousands of people have been killed and many more displaced. Now after nearly one year the war has turned into a bigger conflict, an encounter between the West and Russia.
Many countries, including the U.S., Germany, France, and the UK, have been fanning the flames of the conflict by sending military aid worth billions of dollars to Ukraine.
In the U.S. there has been much debate among politicians on whether to support Kyiv in the war with Russia. Most American politicians and lawmakers are in favor of U.S. support for Ukraine while others, such as Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz, have taken a different stance.
Congressman Gaetz has introduced a bill which calls for an immediate end to U.S. military and financial support for Ukraine. The resolution also urges the warring sides to negotiate a ceasefire.
Gaetz has also taken a jab at President Joe Biden. In a statement on his resolution Gaetz said President Joe Biden must have forgotten his prediction for March 2022, suggesting that arming Ukraine with military equipment would escalate the conflict to world war three.
He added: “America is in a state of managed decline, and it will exacerbate if we continue to hemorrhage, taxpayer dollars toward a foreign war. We must suspend all foreign aid for the war in Ukraine and demand that all combatants in this conflict reach a peace agreement immediately”.
This resolution has so far received ten co sponsors including representatives from Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky and Illinois.
The bill introduced by Gaetz shows that the U.S. has already authorized over $110 billion to spend on the war in less than a year.
The resolution comes after a series of escalations of US military aid, including M1 Abrams tanks, at a time when Ukraine is seeking fighter jets from the U.S. and its allies.