Ukraine recaptures first village in Luhansk region

Ukrainian troops have liberated a village in the Luhansk region after months of controlling no territory in the region. Advance detachments of the Ukrainian Armed Forces first entered Bilohorivka several days ago, and on September 19, Luhansk Regional Governor Serhiy Haidai announced that the village was under total Ukrainian control. Haidai warned, on the other hand, that the process of liberating the Luhansk region “won’t be a fast one,” and that “every centimeter of Luhansk land will require a difficult fight.”

Russian media sources confirmed Ukraine's win. Multiple Russian “war correspondents” posted a video showing Ukrainian troops in the village to Telegram. Meduza used geolocation methods to confirm that the video was taken in Bilohorivka. However, neither the Ukrainian Armed Forces nor the Russian Defense Ministry mentioned the village in their daily reports.

While multiple Ukrainian and Western media outlets have reported that the Luhansk region was previously under complete Russian control, that’s not quite the case. A small part of the region was effectively not controlled by either side. It is true, however, that Bilohorivka is the first area to come decisively under Ukrainian control in recent months.

Though Bilohorivka is small, its recapture is more than a symbolic victory for Ukraine. Controlling the village will give Ukrainian troops a foothold from which to launch an offensive on Lysychansk, which is home to the country’s second largest oil refinery.