Russia to focus on Ukraine’s Donetsk after capturing Luhansk: Regional governor

The local governor of the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine says Russia plans to shift the main focus of its military offensive on seizing the neighboring Donetsk region after capturing Luhansk.

Serhiy Gaidai made the comment on Monday after Moscow announced that Luhansk had fully been "liberated" by Russian and separatist forces following a withdrawal by Ukrainian forces from the city of Lysychansk, the last major stronghold in the restive region.

Gaidai said he expected the city of Sloviansk and the town of Bakhmut in Donetsk to come under heavy attack as Russia tries to take full control of Donbas.

"The loss of the Luhansk region is painful because it is the territory of Ukraine. For me personally, this is special. This is the homeland where I was born and I am also the head of the region," the Luhansk governor said.

"In terms of the military, it is bad to leave positions, but there is nothing critical. We need to win the war, not the battle for Lysychansk," he said. "It hurts a lot, but it's not losing the war."

Gaidai said the withdrawal from Lysychansk had been "centralized" and orderly, and was necessary to save the lives of Ukrainian soldiers who were in danger of being surrounded.

"They (Russian forces) will not transfer 100% of their troops to some front because they need to hold the line. If they leave their positions, then ours can carry out some kind of counter-offensive," he said. "Still, for them goal number 1 is the Donetsk region. Sloviansk and Bakhmut will come under attack – Bakhmut has already started being shelled very hard."

The eastern Ukrainian cities of Bakhmut and Sloviansk are located to the southwest of Lysychansk, and are the main urban areas holding out against Russian forces in Donetsk.

Russia says Ukraine's last major stronghold in Luhansk captured

Russia says its troops have taken full control of Lysychansk as the push to drive Ukrainian forces out of the eastern Donbas region goes into high gear.

Gaidai said the weeks-long battle for Lysychansk had drawn in Russian troops that could have been fighting on other fronts, and had given Ukraine's forces time to build fortifications in the Donetsk region to make it “harder for the Russians there.”

"The (Russian) tactics will be the same. They will shoot at everything with their artillery, but it will be difficult for them to move forward," he said.

Reiterating Ukrainian calls for more arms from Western allies who had "understood too late" what was happening in Ukraine, Gaidai said his country's forces could launch a counteroffensive when they had sufficient long-range weapons. "They just shoot our positions around the clock from a distance."

Back in February, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree recognizing breakaway Luhansk and Donetsk as independent republics. Russia launched the military offensive in Ukraine on February 24. At the time, the Russian president said one of the goals of what he called a "special military operation" was to "de-Nazify" Ukraine. The military operation has led to a deeper feud between Russia and the West, with the United States and its allies slapping unprecedented sanctions on Moscow and flooding Ukraine with advanced weapons.

Russia has said the Western flood of weapons into Ukraine and the sanctions would prolong the ongoing war.

Germans censure Berlin government for sending weapons to Ukraine

Germany has offered substantial support to Ukraine, sending billions of dollars in military aid and heavy weaponry.

Putin congratulates liberation of Luhansk

In another development on Monday, Putin congratulated Russian forces on "liberating" Luhansk and said the troops involved in the operation need to rest but other military units should continue fighting.

"My congratulations and full thanks also go to the second armed corpus of the (self-proclaimed) Luhansk People's Republic military police. I also know they have performed actively and correctly, showing courage and heroism - in the true meaning of the word - while liberating their homeland. I congratulate all of you and wish you further success," the Russian leader said.

"I ask you to give a state award to all service personnel who have excelled during this military action (in Ukraine's Luhansk region). Based on your daily reports, I know there are a lot of brave, professional and gutsy - in a good way - soldiers in the Russian army. They all should be decorated with all the relevant state awards."

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