On 22 April, the chairman of the Luhansk Regional Administration, Serhiy Haidai, declared that the Russian army had failed in Popasna and Rushzhne. At the same time, Haidai said that Russian and LPR troops controlled 80 percent of the territory of Luhansk.[9]However, on 7 May, the city, ravaged by fighting, was reportedly captured by Russian mercenary forces from the Russian private military company Wagner Group.