British intelligence expected that the Russian forces would shift their focus to control the Donetsk province in eastern Ukraine after they had completely captured the Lugansk province.
While the Russian advance continues, the Western powers are meeting in Lugano, Switzerland, to formulate a plan for reconstruction.
And the British Ministry of Defense said, today, Monday, in an update of intelligence related to the Russian war on Ukraine, that it is now almost certain that Russia will shift its focus to control the Donetsk province, which together with the Lugansk province forms the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, which Russian forces seek to control.
The ministry indicated that a large part of Donetsk province is still under the control of Ukrainian forces.
She explained that the battles in the Donbass region are still exhausting and exhausting the combatants, and it is highly unlikely that this reality will change in the coming weeks, according to the assessment of British military intelligence.
On Sunday evening, the Ukrainian General Staff announced the withdrawal of its forces from Lyschansk, the last city that remained under its control in Lugansk Province, and recognized the superiority of Russian forces on the ground after fierce battles over recent weeks.
And the Russian Defense Ministry announced earlier that Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu informed Russian President Vladimir Putin of completing the control of Lugansk province after seizing the city of Lyschansk.
new goal
The Russian military now appears to be focusing its efforts on the main cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, which have been relentlessly bombarded since Sunday, both located in Donetsk province.
The Ukrainian authorities have called on residents to leave, as the front line is now a few kilometers from Sloviansk.
In his daily speech on Sunday evening, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tried to alleviate the situation, focusing on other front lines, as Kyiv asserts that it is "making progress" in the regions of Kharkiv (northeast) and Kherson (south).
"The day will come when we will say the same about Donbass," he said.
The Ukrainian delegation upon its arrival in Lugano (European)
Lugano Conference
Politically, the Lugano Conference, which was originally scheduled before the Russian war, is being held on Monday and Tuesday in an attempt to chart the future reconstruction of Ukraine.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmyal and Parliament Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk arrived in the Swiss city of Lugano, and they will meet in particular with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to lay the foundations for the "Marshall Plan" for Ukraine, although the end of the war is not in sight and estimates range from tens to hundreds of billions of dollars.
The Director-General of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Robert Mardini, said in an interview with the Swiss television station RTS, that the reconstruction process itself must wait for the end of the fighting, but it is vital to provide a "positive horizon for civilians," as he put it.
British Foreign Secretary Liz Terrace will present today in Lugano a broad British plan for the reconstruction of Ukraine.
"The revival of Ukraine after the Russian war of aggression will be a symbol of the superiority of democracy over tyranny. It will show Putin that his attempt to destroy Ukraine has made it a higher, more prosperous and united nation," the minister said before the conference.