"Next week could be tough; This may be the last chance to save you"

"Next week could be tough; This may be the last chance to save you"

"Next week could be difficult. This may be the last chance to save you," Lugansk Regional State Administration Chief Sergei Gaidai was quoted as saying by the BBC.

The focus of the Russian forces is the occupation of Lugansk and Donetsk, which are part of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, an area rich in coal in which steel is also produced, according to a report by the Ukrainian news agency UNIAN.

Just before the start of the war in Ukraine, official Moscow recognized the independence of the self-proclaimed Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk (DNR and LNR) in the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.