The Russian army managed to celebrate important successes in Donbass and captured the last major cities in Luhansk Oblast. Now she has a new goal.
After weeks of fighting, Ukrainian troops gave up defending the strategically important city of Lysychansk in eastern Ukraine, shortly before the sister city of Severodonetsk fell to Russian hands. With the capture of the ancient city of 100,000, the last major conurbation in Luhansk Oblast is now also under the control of Vladimir Putin’s army.
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But the Russian war machine does not stop there. The Kremlin despot has given his generals their next target. “The Russians will now focus on conquering the Donetsk Oblast, which is still largely under the control of Ukrainian forces,” reads the British Defense Ministry’s analysis.
Important administrative center in sight
The general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces also shares this assessment: “In the direction of Sloviansk, the Russians are trying to establish control over the cities of Bohorodychne, Dolyna and Masanivka”, according to the morning report. Thus, the advance of the Kremlin army is concentrated in the agglomerations of the cities of Sloviansk and Bakhmut (Artemivsk).
Luhansk Oblast Ukrainian governor Sergiy Gaidai also sees his administrative district as the next target: “We have to win the war, not the battle for Lysychansk,” he told media on Monday. However, the “number one target” for the Russian side is the Donetsk region: “Slovyansk and Bakhmut will be attacked – Bakhmut is already under heavy fire”.
Both cities are close to the metropolitan city of Kramatorsk, the administrative center of the Ukrainian-controlled parts of the Donetsk Oblast and a hub of the engineering and jewelry industries.
However, UK experts still do not believe in a quick and decisive victory for either side: “The battle for Donbass has been long and costly so far and it is highly unlikely that this will change in the coming weeks.”
Russian stocks exacerbate food crisis
Now that the grain harvests are approaching, the impact of the Russian invasion on Ukraine’s agriculture is even worse. Farmers would find it difficult to obtain fertilizer and seeds, and the naval blockade of Odessa would continue to severely limit grain export opportunities. Britons expect that only about a third of the amount of grain from the previous year can be exported to other countries this year.
With their withdrawal from Cobra Island in the Black Sea, the Russians falsely propagated that “now the Ukrainians are on the ball” to resume deliveries of wheat by sea. “In reality, however, it is Russian disruptions to Ukraine’s agricultural sector that are further exacerbating the global food crisis,” the report concludes.
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Rcp time of the navigation account04.07.2022, 19:14| Act: 07.05.2022, 08:48