A Ukrainaian strike on the Bilorichenska coal mine in the Russian-controlled Luhansk region has damaged a power substation and trapped about 41 mine workers underground, a Russian installed official said on Monday.
Leonid Pasechnik, the Moscow-appointed head of the region, said, “All the relevant services are taking steps to rescue the miners and restore power to the mine.”
He said that the contact with the miners was established it was ensured that they had a supply of drinking water.
The Ukrainian military has denied Russia’s claim that the country had fully taken control of the Luhansk oblast in eastern Ukraine.
Russia currently occupies the majority of the region, with the city of Luhansk, and the regional government is currently controlled by Kremlin-installed proxies, Ukrainian media reported.
Ukrainian troops are “holding the last lines of defence in the region,” Ukraine’s Third Assault Brigade said in a post on Telegram.
“Symbolically, on April 1, the Russian Defence Ministry once again announced the complete capture of Luhansk Oblast by its troops. In fact, Ukrainian forces — units of the Third Assault Brigade — remain in the region,” the unit said.
The brigade said that the Russian forces carried out 144 assault attempts in settlements near the Luhansk-Donetsk border over the past six months, involving over 260 Russian soldiers. Russia has lost up to 260 personnel in the attempts, the brigade said according to the Kyiv Independant.
Russia had continued to demand that Ukraine withdraw its troops from the Donbas region, where Luhansk is located.
Meanwhile, a Russian drone strike on the Ukraine’s Black sea port in Odesa overnight had killed three people, including a child.
The strike also damaged infrastructure, residential and administrative buildings.
Oleh Kiper, Odesa regional governor, said on the Telegram app, “Overnight, Odesa came under another heavy attack by the enemy,” Three people were killed, and 10 people were injured, he confirmed.
“Residential buildings, critical infrastructure and administrative facilities were hit. There is significant damage,” Kiper said.
The Ukraine-Russia war is now in its fifth year. Moscow has escalated its attacks on Odesa, which is a key logistics hub in southern Ukraine and the country’s largest port. The port handles Ukrainian grain and other maritime exports.
Both incidents have come amid an increased number of cross-border strikes in the ongoing conflict.
Ukrainian strike traps 41 miners in Russian-occupied, contested Luhansk region, official says
