The war in Ukraine has entered a new phase

Photo: EPA-EFE / STR

The five-month war in Ukraine has entered a new phase as Russian forces focus on their military targets in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared victory in neighboring Luhansk.

The capture of the city of Lisychansk on Sunday completed Russia's conquest of Luhansk, one of two regions in Donbass, the industrialized eastern region of Ukraine that has become the scene of some of the biggest fighting in Europe.

Russian soldiers in Lugansk, Ukraine / EPA-EFE/SERGEI ILNITSKY
Russian soldiers in Lugansk, Ukraine / EPA-EFE/SERGEI ILNITSKY, Ukraine / EPA-EFE/SERGEI ILNITSKY

Both sides suffered heavy losses in the fighting for Luhansk, especially during the siege of Lisichansk and Severodonetsk. Both cities were left in ruins after relentless Russian bombing.

Ukrainian forces on Tuesday took up new defensive positions in Donetsk, where they still control major cities. Putin has told his troops in Luhansk to "take full rest and regain their military readiness" while units in other areas continue fighting.

Since the beginning of the conflict, Russia has demanded that Ukraine hand over Luhansk and Donetsk to pro-Russian separatists who have declared those regions independent states.

On the other hand, the adviser of the President Volodymyr Zelensky, Oleksiy Arestovich, in a video published on the Internet said in a confident tone that "This is the last victory of Russia on the territory of Ukraine."

According to Arestovich, in addition to the battle for Donetsk, Ukraine hopes to launch a counteroffensive in the south of the country.

"The capture of the cities in the east meant that 60 percent of Russian forces are now concentrated in the east and it is difficult to divert them to the south," he said, adding that there were no more forces that could be brought in from Russia.
"They paid a high price for Severodonetsk and Lisichansk," the adviser to the Ukrainian president believes.

Some military experts believe that the hard-won victory has brought little strategic gain to Russian forces and that the outcome of the "battle for Donbass" is uncertain.

Severodonetsk
Северодоњецк, Украина / Photo: EPA-EFE / ZURAB KURTSIKIDZE

Several London-based think-tank organizations consider the conquest of Lisichansk and Severodnetsk a tactical victory for Russia, but at a huge cost." The Russian victory in Lugansk these organizations compare as "the battle to major battles for meager territorial gains, such as in the First World War ".

"It took 60 days to make very slow progress, the Russians could declare some kind of victory, but the key battle of the war is yet to come," the experts of these organizations are convinced
For many Western analysts, the decisive battle for Ukraine is unlikely to be fought in the east, where Russia is carrying out its main attack, but in the south, where Ukraine has launched a counteroffensive to regain territory.

It remains unclear how this military operation would play out given that the Ukrainians are advancing around Kherson. where do the counterattacks start and what is the signal that Ukraine is trying to launch a big counteroffensive and push the Russians back" towards the Sea of ​​Azov.

Russian tanks EPA-EFE /

The battle for Lugansk was Russia's biggest victory since its forces were defeated in an attempt to capture Kyiv in March and after Russia captured the southern port of Mariupol in late May.

Putin launched the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, calling it a "special military operation" to disarm the southern neighbor and protect Russian-speakers from what he claims are "fascist" nationalists. Ukraine and the West claim that this is an unfounded pretext for flagrant aggression to conquer territories.

New Russian tactics revealed: The fight for Donetsk continues, the city of Siversk a new target of Russian attacks

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