Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told Putin in a televised meeting on Monday that Russian forces were in control of Luhansk, which along with neighboring Donetsk province make up Ukraine’s industrial heartland, the Donbass. Shoigu told Putin that “the operation” was completed on Sunday after Russian troops captured the town of Lysychansk, the last stronghold of Ukrainian forces in Luhansk. Putin, in turn, said that the military units “that took part in active hostilities and achieved success, victory” in Luhansk, “need to rest, increase their combat capabilities.” Putin’s statement came as Russian forces sought to push their offensive deeper into eastern Ukraine after the Ukrainian military confirmed its forces had withdrawn from Lysychansk on Sunday. Luhansk Governor Serhii Haidai said on Monday that Ukrainian forces had withdrawn from the city to avoid encirclement. “There was a risk of encircling Lysychansk,” Haidai told The Associated Press, adding that Ukrainian troops could have held on for a few more weeks, but would have potentially paid a very high price. “We were able to make a central withdrawal and evacuate all the wounded,” Heidai said. “We got all the equipment back, so from that point the withdrawal was well organized.” The Ukrainian General Staff said Russian forces are now focusing their efforts on pushing towards the Shiversk, Fedorivka and Bakhmut line in the Donetsk region, about half of which is controlled by Russia. The Russian military has also stepped up its shelling of the key Ukrainian strongholds of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, deeper into Donetsk. On Sunday, six people, including a 9-year-old girl, were killed by Russian shelling in Sloviansk and 19 others were injured, according to local authorities. Kramatorsk also came under fire on Sunday. An intelligence briefing on Monday from the British Ministry of Defense backed the Ukrainian military’s assessment, noting that Russian forces would “now almost certainly” turn to take Donetsk. The briefing said the conflict in Donbass was “harsh and frustrating” and unlikely to change in the coming weeks. While the Russian military has a huge advantage in firepower, military analysts say it has no significant superiority in troop numbers. This means Moscow lacks the resources to make quick land gains and can only advance slowly, relying on heavy artillery and missile barrages to soften Ukrainian defenses. Putin has made capturing all of Donbas a key goal in his war in Ukraine, now in its fifth month. Moscow-backed separatists in Donbas have been fighting Ukrainian forces since 2014, when they declared independence from Kyiv after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine. Russia formally recognized the self-proclaimed republics days before its February 24 invasion of Ukraine. Since failing to capture Kyiv and other regions in northeastern Ukraine early in the war, Russia has focused on Donbass, unleashing heavy shelling and engaging in house-to-house fighting that has destroyed towns in the region. Russia’s invasion has also devastated Ukraine’s agricultural sector, disrupting supply chains for seeds and fertilizers needed by Ukrainian farmers and preventing the export of grain, a key source of revenue for the country. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in his nightly video address, called for immediate financial aid to help the country rebuild even as fighting continues. “The restoration of Ukraine is not only about what needs to be done later after our victory, but also about what needs to be done now. And we must do this together with our partners, with the entire democratic world,” he said. “A significant part of the economy has been destroyed by hostilities and Russian strikes. Thousands of businesses are out of business. And this means a great need for jobs, for the provision of social benefits, despite the decrease in tax revenues,” said Zelensky. In its report on Monday, Britain’s Ministry of Defense pointed to the Russian blockade of the key Ukrainian port of Odesa, which has severely curtailed grain exports. They predicted that Ukraine’s agricultural exports would reach only 35% of the 2021 total this year as a result. As Moscow pushed its offensive into eastern Ukraine, areas in western Russia came under attack on Sunday in a revival of sporadic apparent Ukrainian raids across the border. The governor of the Belgorod region in western Russia said fragments of an intercepted Ukrainian missile killed four people on Sunday. Two Ukrainian drones were shot down in the Russian city of Kursk, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. In other developments: — Ukrainian soldiers returning from the front lines in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region — where Russia is waging a heavy offensive — describe life during what has turned into a grueling war of attrition as apocalyptic. Growing Threats Spark US Struggle for Cyber Workers Emergency State of Emergency in Akron After Protests Over Jayland Walker’s Death — Two Russian planes departed Bulgaria on Sunday carrying dozens of Russian diplomats and their families amid a mass expulsion that has fueled tensions between the historically close nations, a Russian diplomat said.
Associated Press reporters Inna Varenytsia, Maria Grazia Murru and Oleksandr Stashevskyi contributed to this report from Kyiv.
