Russia has claimed it has fully occupied Ukraine's Luhansk region for the third time since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The Russian military has held almost all of Luhans, one of four eastern regions Moscow has illegally sought to annex. However, Ukraine has dismissed this claim, claiming that the front line has not moved much recently. Analysts suggest that Russia's Defense ministry exaggerates its advances when the frontlines are barely changing. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) also noted that Russian gains in Ukraine slowed in the first three months of this year to about five km (three miles) a day, compared to 11 kilometers in Q1 2025. The latest Russian declaration was aimed at portraying Ukrainian defenses as on the verge of collapse to force Ukraine to cede territory that Russian forces are unlikely to seize militarily in the medium term.