350,000 Ukrainians Still Live Under Russian Occupation In Luhansk Region: Military Head

Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian citizens are still living in Luhansk despite the region being under the occupation of the Russian forces, according to a military official.

In a recent interview with the Kyiv Post, Luhansk Oblast Military Administration head Serhii Haidai said there are now about 350,000 Ukrainian civilians left in the region, noting that 300,000 residents left after Russia launched a full-scale invasion in February.

"More than 300,000 (people) have left the area where the active phase of hostilities took place. That means there are about 350,000 people left in the territory of Luhansk Oblast," Haidai said in the interview.

The Luhansk province, which together with Donetsk makes up the eastern Donbas region, used to have a population of more than 2.2 million. However, the population declined after the War in Donbas in 2014, when Russian forces occupied 30% of the region.

Before the start of the invasion in February, the Ukrainian-controlled territory in Luhansk had 650,000 residents, in addition to the 200,000 people who were considered Internally Displaced Persons, according to Ukrainska Pravda.

Luhansk fell to Russian control in July after the Russian troops forced Ukraine's military command to pull back from the city of Lysychansk "in order to preserve the lives of Ukrainian defenders." Lysychansk was the last remaining stronghold in the province.

"If the commanders of our army withdraw people from certain points at the front, where the enemy has the greatest advantage in fire power, and this also applies to Lysychansk, it means only one thing," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had said in an evening video address following the fall of Luhansk, as per The Guardian. "That we will return thanks to our tactics, thanks to the increase in the supply of modern weapons."

The Russian army is now focusing its efforts on taking over the Donetsk region. The province is now seeing heavy shelling from Russian forces, with the most hostilities focused on Pisky village near Donetsk Airport.

The British Defense Ministry on Monday published an intelligence update where it noted that the attacks are likely part of Moscow's plans to possibly hold a referendum for Donetsk to join Russia. However, the ministry noted that it remains unclear whether Russia would push through with the vote.