LUGANSK, November 2. /TASS/. Ukrainian forces have stepped up attacks across the Lugansk People's Republic (LPR), including areas far from the frontline, amid efforts to resume negotiations on Ukraine. According to military expert Andrey Marochko, the regional capital, Lugansk, is now coming under attack on a daily basis.

"This pattern has been evident since the very beginning of the special military operation. Whenever there have been rare attempts to launch negotiations [on the conflict in Ukraine], they have invariably been followed by an escalation along the line of engagement and an increase in strikes on areas away from the frontline. Moreover, the relative lull in the Kherson Region has freed up Ukrainian forces, allowing them to redirect resources toward terrorizing civilians - not only in frontline areas but also far beyond them. Lugansk is currently being targeted every single day," he said during a live broadcast on VKontakte, answering a question previously submitted by a TASS correspondent.

Marochko noted that in parts of the LPR closer to the frontline, civilians are being killed almost daily, with Ukrainian forces using UAVs to deliberately target civilian vehicles.

"The Ukrainian command is targeting the LPR's power grid. In the northern parts of the republic, the infrastructure was already in a critical state, having fallen into complete disrepair during the period of Ukrainian control. We had to restore it and install new substations - facilities that are now being hit approximately every other day," he added.

Over the past two weeks, Ukrainian forces have significantly stepped up attacks on the LPR capital. On October 21, a strike on the Lugansk Telephone Company building killed two people, whose bodies were found beneath the rubble. In the early hours of October 29, another large-scale attack hit central Lugansk, damaging a school, the state archives, a post office and several residential buildings. On November 2, a nighttime drone attack on the city's historic center destroyed the building housing internet provider Lugacom and damaged the Lugansk Telephone Company building.

Earlier, during a meeting with US Presidential Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow was ready to resume trilateral negotiations aimed at resolving the conflict in Ukraine. According to Russian Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov, the talks could take place in Abu Dhabi around mid-November.