3 hours ago
The Russian bombing led to the destruction of large areas of the city
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his defense minister to continue the offensive in Ukraine after he captured Lyschansk.
Russian television showed Putin calling on forces on other fronts to pursue goals according to “pre-established plans”.
The capture of the city means that the entire Luhansk region is now in the hands of Russia.
And Serhiy Hayday, the governor of the Ukrainian city, announced earlier that the city had been abandoned by its residents so that the Russians would not destroy it from afar.
Heide told the BBC that the soldiers had now moved to new fortified positions.
He said losing the city and relinquishing control of Luhansk to Russia was painful, but added: “This is just one battle we lost, not the war.”
Western countries demanded more weapons to compensate for Russian supremacy.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pledged that Ukrainian forces would return to retake Lysekhansk “thanks to enhanced imports of modern weapons.”
Russia is currently intensifying its bombing of cities in the neighboring Donetsk region, with the cities of Slovyansk and Kramatorsk in particular targeting.
The Donetsk and Luhansk regions together constitute the Donbass industrial region.
Putin was seen telling his defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, that the forces that took part in the campaign to capture Luhansk should “rest and develop their combat capabilities”.
“Other military units, including the Eastern District Group and the Western District Group, must carry out their tasks according to pre-established plans,” he said, expressing hope for success on those fronts like the successes achieved in the Luhansk region.
Before launching the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Putin had recognized Luhansk and Donetsk as independent states, and Russian proxy forces had previously launched an insurgency there in 2014, the year Russia also annexed Crimea.
picture released, AFP
The fighting caused a fire at an oil refinery near the city of Lysekhansk
More than a week ago, Russian forces captured Severodonetsk, which Russian bombing had reduced to rubble.
“Unfortunately, our forces had to withdraw from Lyschansk, since there was a threat that could lead to the encirclement of the city,” Haiday said, speaking of the decision to leave Lysechansk.
“Our army could have held the city for a long time, but Russia currently has a huge advantage in artillery and ammunition, they would have simply destroyed the city from a distance, so there was no point in staying,” he added.
“We needed to save our forces, so that once we had enough weapons, we could launch operations and counterattack,” he said.
Hayday added that the troops have now moved to positions in neighboring Donetsk, “the next target of the Russians.”
The city’s governor said that Ukraine needed long-range artillery.
“We have howitzers and multiple launch systems, but they are still not enough. We need more,” he added.
“Compared to a football match, if we have one good player on the football team, we will not win the game, we need more,” Hayday said. .
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military said it had raised the Ukrainian flag again on Snake Island.
The Russian forces had left the small island of strategic weight, located in the Black Sea last week.