Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of seeking to use his country's territory as a base to control other European countries, at a time when Ukrainian forces are taking new defensive lines on the eastern front with the advance of Russian forces.
Zelensky said on Tuesday that Russia should be urged to find peaceful solutions to end the war, and indicated that Kyiv needs security guarantees even if it is not part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
On the ground, the Ukrainian forces were stationed in new defensive lines in the east of the country in preparation for a new phase of fighting after the Russian forces seized the city of Lyschansk, to complete its control over the Lugansk province, which together with Donetsk makes up the Donbass region, which Moscow seeks to extend its influence over, demanding Kyiv to cede it to the separatists. .
Sergei Gaidai, governor of Lugansk, acknowledged that the entire province was effectively in the hands of the Russians, but told Reuters: "We need to win the war, not the battle of Lyschansk. It is very painful, but it does not mean losing the war."
Gaidai stated that the Ukrainian forces, which had retreated from Lyschansk, are now stationed on the line connecting Bakhmut and Slaviansk and are preparing to repel any new Russian advance.
Al-Jazeera correspondent Fadi Salameh monitored the situation on the ground and the manifestations of destruction in Lyschansk, which he managed to enter after the separatists and Russian forces took control of it.
Russia hopes that Ukraine's retreat will give it an impetus to continue advancing west into neighboring Donetsk province, where Ukraine still controls the cities of Slavyansk, Kramatorsk and Bakhmut.
During the battles of recent weeks, the Russian forces repeatedly tried to besiege the Ukrainians who had holed up in several heavy industrial facilities, but they did not succeed, so they resorted to intense bombing that turned those cities into scorched earth.
turning point
Reuters quoted military experts as saying that the recent battles may be a turning point in the war, not because of the strategic value of the destroyed cities themselves - which are limited - but because of the impact of losses on the ability of both sides to fight.
"I think it was a tactical victory for Russia, but at a huge cost," said Neil Melvin, director of international security studies at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in Britain, comparing the recent battles to what was characterized by the First World War of grinding battles over meager field gains. .
"It took 60 days to make a very slow progress, I think the Russians might declare some sort of victory, but the main war battle is yet to come," he added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated his forces on their victories in Luhansk, in a televised interview with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Monday.
Putin said that those who took part in the fighting should "completely rest and restore their military readiness", while other units continue to fight in other regions.
This battle is the closest to Moscow achieving one of its declared goals since the retreat of its forces that did not succeed in seizing Kyiv last March, and it represents Russia's biggest victory since its seizure of the port of Mariupol in southern Ukraine in late May.
Both sides suffered thousands of dead and wounded, while claiming to have inflicted far greater losses on their enemy along the course of the Seversky Donets River that runs through Lugansk and Donetsk.
In other field developments, Al-Jazeera correspondent reported that 3 explosions took place in the center of the Mykolaiv district in the south of the country on Tuesday morning.
The reporter added that one of the Ukrainian military units in the canton was targeted, and plumes of smoke and flames were seen rising from it.
The local authorities have not yet commented on the nature of the targeted sites or the losses they sustained.
Lugano Conference
Politically, today, Tuesday, in Lugano, Switzerland, the closing sessions of the “Ukraine Recovery” conference were held with the participation of the President of the European Union and the President of the European Commission, as well as representatives of 40 countries.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmyhal said in his speech at the conference on Monday that the cost of rebuilding Ukraine could reach $750 billion, and that the wealthy Russians should help pay this bill.
"The Russian authorities unleashed this bloody war, they caused such massive destruction, and they must be held accountable for this," Schmihal added.
As for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who addressed the conference via video link, he stressed that rebuilding Ukraine is "the common task of the entire democratic world," stressing that his country's recovery serves world peace.
The conference aims to lay out the features of a plan for the reconstruction of Ukraine, similar to the "Marshall Plan" that was designed to extricate Europe from the rubble of World War II through an American economic program.