Putin Orders Continued Large-Scale Strikes on Ukraine

During a visit to a forward command post of Russia's Joint Group of Forces, Vladimir Putin stated that large-scale coordinated strikes on Ukraine's defence industry infrastructure and supporting facilities must continue. He also said that Russia would expand its so-called "security zone" in response to Ukrainian strikes on Russian civilian infrastructure. Putin repeated claims that Russian forces had "captured Luhansk Oblast", referring to it as the "liberation of the Luhansk People's Republic". The Russian Defence Ministry had claimed on 1 April that it had taken full control of Luhansk Oblast, but media outlets noted this was the third such announcement since the full-scale invasion began, predicting similar claims would be repeated. Putin also claimed that Russian forces had "captured Kostiantynivka" in Donetsk Oblast. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Putin had been informed of the complete "liberation" of the city, but BBC News Russian noted that no objective evidence was provided. At the end of June, Putin claimed Russian forces were just over 10 km from Sumy and between 2.5 km and 5 km from Kupiansk, where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was photographed beside the city's entrance sign in December 2025.