Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday ordered his troops to continue their offensive in eastern Ukraine after capturing the entire Luhansk region. Putin said during a televised meeting with his Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu that the Russian troops “should fulfill their mission in accordance with the approved plans.” In addition, the Russian army continues to bombard eastern Ukraine and advance in terms of control over the entire region of Donbass after capturing the strategic city of Lysichansk at a time when the Luhansk conference in Switzerland is preparing for the recovery phase.
The Ukrainian Army Headquarters announced on Sunday evening its withdrawal from Lischansk, where heavy fighting has taken place in recent weeks, recognizing the superiority of Russian forces in the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine. Since capturing Lischansk, a key stage in controlling the Donbass industrial basin, predominantly Russian-speaking and partly controlled by pro-Moscow separatists since 2014, the Russian military appears to be focusing its efforts on the main cities of Slavyansk and Kramatorsk to the west, which has been relentlessly bombed since Sunday.
In his daily speech on Sunday night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tried to soften the situation by focusing on other front lines as Kyiv claims it is “making progress” in Kharkiv (northeast) and Kherson (south) regions. “The day will come when we will say the same about Donbass,” he said.
In the city of Slavyansk, which had a population of about 100,000 before the war, Russian strikes on Sunday killed six people, including a nine-year-old girl. “Her name was Eva, and in August she celebrated her 10th birthday,” Zelensky said.
The Ukrainian authorities are now urging residents to leave, as the front line runs a few kilometers from Sloviansk.
In Seversk, about twenty kilometers west of Lysekhansk, Ukrainian forces seem to be relying on the line of defense between that city and the town of Bakhmut to defend Slavyansk and Kramatorsk. Residents contacted by AFP reported increased shelling of Seversk in recent days.
“The enemy has intensified the shelling of our positions in the direction of Bakhmut,” they confirmed yesterday morning at a press conference at the headquarters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
On the night from Sunday to Monday, the alarm about air raids sounded to Odessa. In Ukraine, no one can predict the duration of the war.
Although the outcome of the war has yet to be decided, the Lugansk conference, planned before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, is now being held to outline the future reconstruction of Ukraine. Robert Mardini, director general of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said in an interview with the Swiss TV channel RTS that the rebuilding process itself should be delayed until the end of hostilities, but it was vital to ensure a “positive outlook”. for civilians.