russian troops occupy Hirske community in the Luhansk region, where there are still up to 4,000 civilians

What happened? The russians completely occupied the Hirske community in the Luhansk region, where there are up to 4,000 inhabitants.

Source. This was announced by the head of the Hirske community Oleksiy Babchenko on the air of the Espresso TV channel.

Details. According to him, “minor local fighting continues on the outskirts, but the enemy has entered. Despite the fact that Zolote was a very strong and reliable fortified area. The breakthrough was made from the direction of Orikhove – Toshkivka.”

Babchenko noted that the community was seized from two sides: some of the occupiers went to the settlements of Myrna Dolyna, Pidlisne, Loskutivka, some to Hirske and Zolote. Babchenko says that local fighting is still going on in several settlements, which he cannot name.

Up to 4,000 civilians remain in the community. They have not had electricity, water and gas supply for several months. According to Babchenko, it has been impossible to get to Hirske since June 21: all roads were either controlled by the russians or actively strafed.

In general, Novotoshkivske, Krymske, Nyzhne and Toshkivka were the first to fall under the occupation. Zolote and Hirske were constantly under fire. The occupiers completely destroyed the critical infrastructure.

Background. Earlier, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that in the Bakhmut direction, the occupiers were conducting offensive operations on the settlements of Zolote and Vovchoyarivka.

At the same time, they were trying to seize the dominant heights in the Berestovo area in order to establish control over the Bakhmut–Lysychansk highway.