At least five killed in Ukrainian attacks on Russian-occupied Luhansk

At least five people, including a minor, were killed in Ukrainian attacks across the Russian-annexed Luhansk region over the past 24 hours, according to local authorities loyal to Moscow.

Leonid Pasechnik, the region’s Moscow-backed governor, said a strike on a car killed a 23-year-old woman and her 63-year-old mother. In another drone attack, a 35-year-old man died. A 14-year-old teenager and a 29-year-old tractor driver were killed when an explosive device and a mine detonated, respectively.

Ukrainian forces have intensified attacks on Luhansk in recent weeks. Moscow is using the region as a base in its effort to capture northern Donetsk, which has remained under Ukrainian control since the beginning of the war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said this week that Russian forces had made significant advances on the front. Moscow is seeking to capture the main Ukrainian strongholds in Donbas before the end of the year. Independent sources confirmed those gains but described Kremlin forecasts as unlikely and overly optimistic. The report came as U.S. envoys were due to meet Russian officials to try to restart peace negotiations that have been stalled since February.