President Vladimir Putin on Monday ordered Russian troops to suppress their offensive deeper into the Donbas region in East Ukraine after Moscow’s troops seized the strategic city of Lysychansk.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told Putin at the meeting that Moscow’s troops were now in full control over the Lugansk region.
In a sign there will be no coincidence in the battle and that Russia is now paying attention to the entire Donetsk region, Putin told Shoigu that the troops placed there had to continue their operations.
Military units, including the Eastern and Western groups, must carry out their tasks in accordance with previously approved plans,” Putin said.
The Ukrainian army said on Sunday that they resigned from Lysychansk to preserve the life of their troops and were defeated by Russian troops.
The enemy continues to terrorize the border area of Sumy, Kharkiv City and the Region (Donbas), “said Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in his speech at night, describing an intensified Russian attack.
We need to solve it. This is a difficult task, it requires time and efforts to be super human. But we have no alternatives.”
With the current war entering the fifth month, Ukraine said at the Switzerland Reconstruction Conference on Monday that it was a cost of $ 750 billion to rebuild the country.
The main source of recovery must be an asset confiscated from Russian and Russian oligarchy,” Prime Minister Denyys Shmyhal told the leaders of dozens of countries in Lugano.
In a video address, Zelensky described rebuilding Ukraine as “General Task for the whole democratic world” and “the biggest contribution to global peace support.”
The loss of Lysychansk during the weekend encouraged Zelensky to increase calls to increase weapons supply from the West so that Kyiv could maintain resistance and get back the lost area.
After surrendering to the originals of the war to capture Kyiv to follow the resilient resistance of Ukraine, Russia has focused its efforts to secure control over the Donetsk and Lugansk areas that form the Donbas region.
The arrest of Lysychansk Moscow – One week after the Ukrainian army also resigned from the neighboring city of Severodonetsk – freed Russian troops to advance in Kramatorsk and Sloviansk in Donetsk.
Lugansk region Governor Sergiy Gayday said in Telegram that there were still battles in the city of Bilogorivka outside Lysychansk.
We continue to maintain a small part of the Lugansk region so that our troops can build a protective fort, he added.
In his speech on Sunday night, Zelensky vowed Kyiv to fight and ensure the military had “the most modern weapons”.
In a symbolic encouragement, the Ukraine flag was hoisted on Snake Island, a rocky outcrop in the Black Sea, after Russia withdraws from the Ukraine region which is strategic last week.
In Sloviansk, about 75 kilometers (45 miles) to the west of Lysychansk, there were several people on the streets on Monday, the day after the Russian attack that killed at least six people, among them a nine -year -old girl, and 19 were injured.
In the large city center market mostly damaged by fires caused by Russian strikes, several vendors offer basic goods while others clean up the debris.
Vendors and residents who spoke with AFP, some were still surprised, expressed concern for days and weeks in the coming weeks, when the sound of the shooting was heard again.
The city of Siversk, 30 kilometers west of Lysychansk, also saw the shooting last night, residents and an official told AFP.