Russia will shift main focus to Donetsk region, says Luhansk governor

Ukrainian platoon commander Mariia talks to her soldiers in the Donetsk region on Saturday. Pic/AP

Russia will shift the main focus of its war in Ukraine to trying to seize all of the Donetsk region after capturing neighbouring Luhansk, the Luhansk region's governor said on Monday. Governor Serhiy Gaidai said he expected the city of Sloviansk and the town of Bakhmut in particular to come under heavy attack as Russia tries to take full control of what is known as the Donbas in eastern Ukraine. Russia says it has established full control over the Luhansk region following withdrawal by Ukrainian forces from the bombed-out city of Lysychansk though Gaidai said fighting continued in two small villages.

"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," Gaidai 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."

In danger of being surrounded

He said the withdrawal from Lysychansk had been "centralised" 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 per cent 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," Gaidai 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." Since abandoning an assault on the capital Kyiv, Russia has concentrated its military operation on the industrial Donbas heartland that comprises Luhansk and Donetsk, where Moscow-backed separatist proxies have been fighting Ukraine since 2014.

Putin congratulates Russian troops

President Vladimir Putin on Monday congratulated Russian troops on "liberating" Luhansk, a significant milestone for Moscow in its military campaign in Ukraine. In a televised meeting with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, Putin said troops involved in the operation to capture
the Luhansk region should rest but that other military units should continue fighting.

‘Switzerland safe haven for Russian oligarchs'

A leading Swiss nongovernmental group on Monday called out Switzerland as a "safe haven" for Russian oligarchs and as a trading hub for Russian oil, grain and coal. Public Eye urged the Swiss executive branch to "use all levers at its disposal to stop the financing of this inhuman aggression," in a reference to Russian President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine.

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