KYIV, Ukraine (AP) \u2014 A Russia-appointed official in Ukraine\u2019s occupied Luhansk region said Monday that Moscow\u2019s forces have overrun all of it \u2014 one of four regions Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in September 2022 despite not fully controlling a single one. <\/p>\n
If confirmed, that would make Luhansk the first Ukrainian region fully occupied by Russia after more than three years of war<\/a> and as recent U.S.-led international peace efforts have failed to make progress<\/a> on halting the fighting. <\/p>\n Russian President Vladimir Putin has effectively rejected a ceasefire and hasn\u2019t budged from his<\/a> demands, which include Moscow\u2019s control over the four illegally annexed regions. <\/p>\n There was no immediate comment from Kyiv on the claim made by the Moscow-installed leader of the occupied region, Leonid Pasechnik. In remarks to Russia\u2019s state TV Channel One that aired Monday evening, Pasechnik said he received a report \u201cliterally two days ago\u201d saying that \u201c100%\u201d of the region was now under the control of Russian forces. <\/p>\n Germany\u2019s top diplomat visits Kyiv <\/p>\n The development came just hours after the top German diplomat said that Germany aims to help Ukraine manufacture more weapons more quickly as Kyiv looks to strengthen its negotiating position in peace talks with Russia<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cWe see our task as helping Ukraine so that it can negotiate more strongly,\u201d Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said during a visit to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, accompanied by German defense industry representatives.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen Putin speaks of peace today, it is pure mockery,\u201d Wadephul told a news conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha. \u201cHis apparent readiness to negotiate is only a facade so far.\u201d<\/p>\n Russia\u2019s invasion shows no sign of letting up. Its grinding war of attrition along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line and long-range strikes on civilian areas of Ukraine have killed thousands of troops and civilians.<\/p>\n Ukraine is outgunned and shorthanded on the front line and international aid has been vital for Ukraine\u2019s resistance against its neighbor\u2019s bigger army and economy. Germany has been Ukraine\u2019s second-largest military backer after the United States, whose continuing support is in doubt. <\/p>\n \u201cWe want to build new joint ventures so that Ukraine itself can produce faster and more for its own defense, because your needs are enormous,\u201d Wadephul said while standing next to Sybiha. <\/p>\n \u201cOur arms cooperation is a real trump card \u2014 it is a logical continuation of our delivery of material,\u201d Wadephul said. \u201cAnd we can even benefit mutually from it \u2014 with your wealth of ideas and your experience, we will become better.\u201d<\/p>\n Wadephul was also due to meet with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.<\/p>\n Russia\u2019s aerial attacks on Ukraine continue <\/p>\n The top German diplomat\u2019s trip to Kyiv came less than 48 hours after Russia launched its biggest combined aerial attack<\/a> against Ukraine over the weekend, Ukrainian officials said, in an escalating bombing campaign that has further dashed hopes for a breakthrough in peace efforts.<\/p>\n Ukraine\u2019s air force said Monday it detected 107 Russian Shahed and decoy drones in the country\u2019s air space overnight. <\/p>\n Strikes in Ukraine\u2019s northeastern Kharkiv region left two civilians dead and eight injured, including a 6-year-old child, regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said Monday.<\/p>\n The aerial onslaughts are calculated by Russia to squeeze Ukraine into submission, according to the Institute for the Study of War.<\/p>\n \u201cRussia is continuing to use increasingly large numbers of drones in its overnight strike packages in order to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses and enable subsequent cruise and ballistic missile strikes,\u201d the Washington-based think tank said late Sunday. <\/p>\n \u201cThe increases in Russia\u2019s strike packages in recent weeks are largely due to Russia\u2019s efforts to scale up its defense industrial production, particularly of Shahed and decoy drones and ballistic missiles,\u201d the institute added.<\/p>\n Sybiha thanked Germany for its contribution to Ukraine\u2019s air defense and urged Berlin to send more antimissile systems.<\/p>\n The Russians \u201care attacking civilian targets in order to create panic, to influence the mood of our population,\u201d he said. \u201cThe key is the air defense system.\u201d<\/p>\n Berlin has balked at granting Zelenskyy\u2019s request to provide Ukraine with powerful German- and Swedish-made Taurus long-range missiles<\/a>, which could potentially hit targets inside Russia. That is due to fears such a move could enrage the Kremlin and draw NATO into Europe\u2019s biggest conflict since World War II.<\/p>\n German Chancellor Friedrich Merz pledged in May to help Ukraine develop its own long-range missile systems<\/a> that would be free of any Western-imposed limitations on their use and targets.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Moulson contributed from Berlin.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n