An exultant Putin encourages his troops after taking control of the entire Lugansk region

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It will be a "really colossal" effort in the words of Ukrainian President

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But any return to normality has to have a beginning, and in Lugano the foundations of the Ukrainian post-war began to be laid.

The southern Swiss city on Monday hosted the first international conference focused on the recovery of the country, which last weekend suffered another setback on the battlefields of the east, to the delight of

.

The troops who participated in the Lugansk campaign should "rest and develop their combat capabilities."

With these words, the Russian president celebrated the taking of Lysychansk, the last of the towns of reference in the Lugansk oblast, one of the two self-proclaimed independent republics.

The Ukrainian government delegate there, Serhiy Haidai, acknowledged the defeat to the BBC, after a withdrawal of troops: "We have lost a battle, but not the war."

But Putin, who continues to quietly adapt his goals to the performance of his soldiers, also hinted that he aspires to more: "Other military units, including the East group and the West group, must carry out their tasks according to previously planned plans." approved," he said, pointing to the possibility that Russia might try to expand into other oblasts such as Zaporizhia or Odesa, the victim of several attacks on civilian targets in recent days.

However, the most likely focus of the next Russian attacks remains the east.

Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, two larger towns, have been shaken recently.

That is where, presumably, the soldiers who left Lysychansk will be placed.

"Our military could have stayed in the city for a long time, but Russia currently has a huge advantage in artillery and ammunition," Haidai said.

"We needed to save our troops so that, when enough weapons arrive, we can carry out normal operations and counter-attacks," says Haidai, hoping that the aid promised during the last

summit will materialize as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Ukraine begins to think about the day after.

Lugano was the place chosen for a meeting in charge of addressing another of the Ukrainian Government's priorities, for which it also needs help from the world: its reconstruction.

"We will have to liberate more than 2,000 towns and cities in eastern and southern Ukraine," President Zelensky said in a speech ahead of the summit, at which he will also speak via video link.

The leader described the reconstruction of the war-torn parts of his country as a "really colossal" effort.

The historic center of Kharkov, the northern towns of kyiv or Mariupol have been completely or partially reduced to rubble.

The appointment of Switzerland had been years in preparation.

In fact, initially it was the fifth edition of an annual conference that, since 2017, tries to bring together businessmen, politicians, activists and thinkers to discuss the political situation in Ukraine faced with the search for reforms.

The Russian invasion has led the organizers to turn their proposal around, focusing it on the creation of a roadmap for the treatment of solutions that guarantee the stability and prosperity of the country.

This Monday was the first of the two days of the meeting and the Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmyhal made an unexpected appearance at it.

The president of the European Commission,

, and the British Foreign Secretary, Liz Truzz, also confirmed their participation.

According to the Reuters agency, the European Investment Bank, the investment arm of the EU will present at the conference a plan to build a fund of up to 100 billion euros for reconstruction projects.

stolen cereal

Beyond Switzerland, the second global focus of the Ukraine war was on

More specifically, a few hundred meters from the shore of Karasu, a coastal town on the Black Sea.

The Russian-flagged ship Zhibek Zholy, which Ukraine accused of transporting 4,500 tons of grain stolen from the Ukrainian countryside, has been anchored there since last Friday.

Also according to kyiv, the freighter was detained by Turkish customs authorities;

Ankara is silent.

On June 30, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office had written to the Turkish Ministry of Justice warning that the Zhibek Zholy was involved in the "illegal export of Ukrainian grain".

Ukrainian analysts and officials have accused Turkey of admitting cargo from ships carrying cargo looted by Russia.

Another destination country was Syria, whose regime is heavily dependent on the Kremlin.

One of the ports of departure for cereals has been Sebastopol.

The Zhibek Zholy came from Berdyansk, west of Mariupol and was also in Russian hands.

The Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Çavusoglu, assured that there was no evidence that his country had received grain through these routes.

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