04/21/2026
The military leadership of the aggressor country, Russia, has declared another “victory” on the front, namely the complete establishment of control over the Luhansk region. However, this is the fifth time such a statement has been made since the start of the full-scale war.
Even ordinary Russians no longer have much faith in the achievements of the Russian army, as confirmed by numerous comments online. This is stated in the Telegram channel “Agenstvo. Novosti”.
Russia again claims “full control” over Luhansk region, but data does not confirm this
On the morning of April 21, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced the alleged complete capture of the Luhansk region.
However, as recently as October 2, 2025, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin claimed that only about 0.13% of the region’s territory remained under Ukrainian control. Given that the total area of Luhansk Oblast is 26,683 sq. km, this meant approximately 34.7 sq. km, which, according to him, were still controlled by Ukrainian forces.
At the same time, data from the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) does not confirm claims that Russian troops have full control over the Luhansk region. According to their map, a small area in the Svatove area remains under Ukrainian control.
A similar assessment is also reflected by the Ukrainian OSINT project DeepState, the latest update of which was published on Tuesday evening.
It is worth noting that Russian troops had already announced the complete capture of Luhansk Oblast in 2022, but later the Armed Forces of Ukraine regained control over part of the region’s territory.
In June 2025, the Russian-appointed head of the so-called “LPR” Leonid Pasichnyk again announced the alleged complete capture of the region.
Russians commented on the “seizure” of Luhansk region
The statements of the Russian leadership were not appreciated even by the people, because it is not the first time that the residents of the aggressor country have heard such words. In the comments, they expressed their attitude to the achievements of the Russian Federation.
Recall, on April 1, the Russian Defense Ministry also stated that their military had allegedly established full control over the Luhansk region. In addition, the Russian leadership was convinced of “inevitable” successes in terms of the complete occupation of the Donetsk region as well.
As OBOZ.UA wrote, ISW analysts previously emphasized that Putin continues to regularly invent imaginary successes of the Russian occupation army in the war against Ukraine. On the eve, the Kremlin leader made even more exaggerated statements about victories on the battlefield than his high-ranking military officials made about settlements in the Kharkiv region.
Always assume being lied to when a cockroach opens his or her stinking trap.
Complete control of Luhansk to go with their complete control of Kupiansk.
lol, Gerasimov looks like Curly