Russia claims full capture of Luhansk Oblast for the third time — Ukraine’s 3rd Assault Brigade notes it’s still holding the line there

Ukraine's 3rd Assault Brigade called Russia's 1 April claim of full capture of Luhansk Oblast a fake, the unit reported on Telegram. ISW confirmed Ukrainian forces remain in the oblast and assessed the announcement as part of a Kremlin information operation. The claim was at least the third such declaration from Russian officials since the full-scale invasion began.

Russia's third false capture announcement

Russia's MoD stated that the Zapad grouping had completed what it called the "liberation of the Luhansk People's Republic." The LNR is the Russian-backed quasi-state that Russia established in the occupied Luhansk Oblast territory back in 2014.

As of 1 April, ISW assessed that Russian forces control 99.84% of the oblast — but Nadiia and Novoyehorivka, lying east of Borova, remain outside Russian-held territory. DeepState's current frontline map confirmed that both settlements were unoccupied as of that date.

Prior iterations of the same claim came from then-Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in July 2022. LNR head Leonid Pasechnik repeated it in June 2025. 

"Kremlin claims in 2025 and 2026 about seizing the oblast are aggrandizing [minuscule] changes on the front in Luhansk Oblast in order to create the false impression that Russian forces are rapidly advancing on various sectors of the battlefield," ISW noted.

Three settlements. Six months. 144 failed assaults.

The 3rd Assault Brigade holds Nadiia, Novoyehorivka, and Hrekivka against sustained Russian pressure, according to the unit's report. Over the past six months, Russian forces launched 144 assault attempts in the Nadiia and Novoyehorivka area. Those attempts involved 19 units of motorcycle equipment and over 360 Russian soldiers. Up to 260 Russian soldiers died and over 80 sustained wounds in those operations, the Brigade reported.

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Ukraine liberated Nadiia in March 2025 after a 30-hour assault. It was the second time Ukrainian forces recaptured the settlement since the full-scale invasion began.

"Symbolically, on 1 April (April Fools' Day, — Ed.), Russia's MoD once again announced the complete capture of Luhansk Oblast by its forces," the brigade wrote, adding: "But in reality, Ukrainian forces — units of the 3rd Assault Brigade — remain on the territory of the region." 

The Brigade added:

"We do not join the 'congratulations' on the professional holiday of Russian propagandists — because we are standing in defense of the oblast's last defense lines."

Pressure campaign

ISW assessed the Russian claim of seizing Luhansk Oblast as part of a coordinated Kremlin information campaign. Its aim is to "create a false sense of urgency to force Ukraine to cede unoccupied parts of Donetsk Oblast." ISW concluded that Russian assertions about easily seizing the rest of Donetsk Oblast bear no relationship to current battlefield conditions:

"The current battlefield realities and recent Ukrainian advances show that significant Russian battlefield gains are not inevitable, particularly against the large and well-fortified cities of Ukraine’s Fortress Belt in Donetsk Oblast," the think tank wrote.

Earlier, Russia's spring-summer offensive had stalled against Ukraine's Fortress Belt in Donetsk Oblast, with ISW assessing that Russian forces are unlikely to break through it in 2026.