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.”