Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his forces to resume offensives in eastern Ukraine on Monday. The decision was announced a day after the capture of the entire Lugansk region in eastern Ukraine.
Mr. Putin made the announcement during a televised interview with his Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. “I hope everything will happen in their fields as it happened in Luhansk,” he added.
Withdrawal of Ukrainian forces
The reports came a day after it was announced that Ukrainian forces would be withdrawn from the strategic city of Lisitsansk after Russian forces and separatists Moscow fully seized control of the Luhansk region.
The Lugansk region and neighboring Donetsk region make up the Donbass, a mining basin in eastern Ukraine that Moscow’s forces intend to capture entirely.
Warriors were praised
Without elaborating, Vladimir Putin also hinted that two of his commanders, Alexander Lapin and Esedolla Abatchev, would be made “heroes of Russia” in the fighting in Ukraine.
Strategic advantage
The capture of Lysytchansk, which formed a strategic lock with the twin city of Severodonetsk, allowed Russian forces and separatists to advance more easily to the west and towards the key cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk. .
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