Russia Reports Advances in Ukraine Amid US Focus on Conflict with Iran

On Monday evening, Russia announced that it had gained control over the entire Luhansk region in Ukraine. If true, this would represent the first time since the start of its unlawful invasion three years ago that Russia has completely taken over a whole region.

However, Fox News Digital has been unable to independently confirm the statement made by Leonid Pasechnik, who is the Moscow-backed leader of Luhansk. Russian President Vladimir Putin had illegally annexed Luhansk in 2022, along with Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions.

As of now, Kyiv has not responded to Pasechnik’s assertions made on Monday evening in an interview with Russian state television Channel One. According to the Associated Press, Pasechnik mentioned receiving a report “literally two days ago” indicating that they had achieved “100%” control over the region.

Ukrainian infantry man forward positions in the forest on Nov. 10, 2024, in Serebryansky Reserve, located about 8 kilometers southwest of Kreminna in the Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine. (Kostiantyn Liberov/Libkos/Getty Images)

U.S.-led attempts to broker a Ukraine-Russia ceasefire appear to have stalled, and little communication has been reported between Washington and Moscow following Trump’s previous call with Putin in mid-June. 

Trump maintains that Putin is looking for a way to end the war, and told reporters during a NATO news conference last week, “I know one thing – he’d like to settle.”

“He’d like to get out of this thing. It’s a mess for him,” he added. 

But NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, who has managed to establish a positive relationship with the U.S. president despite Trump’s previous criticism of the alliance, has warned that he estimates Putin has ambitions beyond Ukraine and could attack other parts of Europe within three to five years. 

President Donald Trump speaks with Secretary-General Mark Rutte as he arrives for a NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, on June 25, 2025. (Piroschka Van De Wouw, Pool Photo via AP)

Trump gave Putin a two-week deadline in May to show he was serious about ending the war, or whether he is “tapping [the U.S.] along.”

But the deadline has long passed, and the president has not made clear what his next steps will be. 

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s questions on what the president plans to do next when it comes to U.S. attempts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, or when Trump plans to next speak with Putin.