A part of the defense line of the Ukrainian forces in the Luhansk region has been breached, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced. Moscow said that their forces had overcome the first and second lines of defense and had advanced three kilometers as the Ukrainians were retreating in disorder. Reuters points out that the information has not been confirmed by an independent source and the message did not indicate where the breach occurred.

US Secretary of Defense Gen. Lloyd Austin told a NATO meeting that the Alliance would firmly continue its support for a free and sovereign Ukraine and added that efforts for additional arms assistance must be increased.

The issue of sending fighter jets to Ukraine is not the most urgent at the moment, the Secretary General of the Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, said. But he made it clear that this could change in the course of the war, AFP reports.