Russia holds key city, setback for Kyiv
Published on: Tuesday, July 05, 2022
By: AFP
Lysychansk had been the final holdout in the Lugansk area and Russian forces now can advance on Kramatorsk and Sloviansk in neighbouring Donetsk.
SIVERSK: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday ordered Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu to press ahead with Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine after troops took control of the entire Lugansk region.“Military units, including the East group and the West group, must carry out their tasks according to previously approved plans,” Putin told Shoigu.
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With the war now well into its fifth month after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, governments and organisations gathered for a conference in Switzerland to launch a plan to rebuild the country even as the conflict shows no sign of abating.
The loss of Lysychansk over the weekend prompted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to step up calls for an increased supply of weapons from the West so Kyiv can keep up the resistance and regain lost territories.
After giving up on its initial war aim of capturing Kyiv following tough Ukrainian resistance, Russia has focused its efforts on securing control of the Donetsk and Lugansk areas which make up the Donbas region.
Moscow’s capture of Lysychansk—one week after the Ukrainian army also retreated from the neighbouring city of Severodonetsk—frees up Russian forces to advance on Kramatorsk and Sloviansk in Donetsk.
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“The continuation of the defence of the city (Lysychansk) would lead to fatal consequences” in the face of Russia’s superiority in numbers and equipment, the Ukrainian army said on Sunday, announcing its retreat.
“In order to preserve the lives of Ukrainian defenders, a decision was made to withdraw.”
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ugansk region governor Sergiy Gayday said on Telegram that there was still fighting in the town of Bilogorivka outside Lysychansk.
“We keep defending a small part of the Lugansk region so that our army could build protective redoubts,” he added.
In an address late Sunday, Zelensky vowed Kyiv would fight on and ensure the military had “the most modern weapons”.
“Ukraine will reach the level when the fire superiority of the occupiers will be levelled.”
In Sloviansk, about 75 kilometres (45 miles) west of Lysychansk, there were few people on the streets on Monday, the day after Russian strikes that left at least six dead, among them a nine-year-old girl, and 19 injured.
In the large downtown market largely ravaged by a fire caused by a Russian strike, a few vendors offered basic goods while others cleared charred debris.
Vendors and residents who spoke to AFP, some still in shock, expressed concern for the days and weeks to come, as sounds of shelling were heard again.
The city of Siversk, 30 kilometres west of Lysychansk, also saw overnight shelling, residents and an official told AFP.
But Zelensky’s address Sunday evening was defiant, pointing to Ukrainian troops progressing in the Kharkiv and Kherson regions, and vowed “there will be a day when we will say the same about Donbas”.
“We will rebuild the walls, we will win back the land, and people must be protected above all else,” Zelensky said.
“Ukraine does not give anything up.”
On Monday, leaders from dozens of countries and international organisations were meeting in the Swiss city of Lugano, where they aim to hash out a roadmap for Ukraine’s reconstruction—expected to cost hundreds of billions of dollars.
Lugano is not a pledging conference but will instead attempt to lay out the principles and priorities for a rebuilding process aimed to begin even as the war rages.
Ukraine will also face demands for broad reforms, especially in cracking down on corruption after Brussels recently granted Kyiv candidate status in its push to join the 27-member European Union.
Zelensky will address the conference by video, but the event is also being attended by Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal in a rare trip outside the country.
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