After the retreat of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from Severodonetsk and the transfer of the city under the complete control of the Russian invaders, only one city of Lysychansk remained from the strongholds of the Lugansk region; there is nothing else to cling to.
Military expert Oleg Zhdanov noted that he does not exclude the possibility that the Russians will be able to occupy the entire Luhansk region.
"I do not rule out that the Russians will be able to occupy the entire Lugansk region. Of the strongholds there, only one city of Lysychansk remains, there is nothing more to cling to. As for the Donetsk region, I deeply doubt that the Russians will be able to capture it within the administrative boundaries. The possible capture of the Lugansk region is the last spurt of the Russian army in attempts to carry out offensive operations," the expert believes.
According to him, to keep this piece of the Lugansk region from the point of view of the military campaign is not so important, but from the point of view of politics, it would be desirable to keep Lysychansk under the control of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
“But whether it will be expedient is a question because we take losses into account, we save the army. We could stand there, as in 1941, but then there would be a crazy price. If we don’t save the army now, then we won’t free anything "And having saved the army, we will have the opportunity to conduct a counteroffensive. Not today, then tomorrow. Weapons are coming, the army is rearming, and our chances for a counteroffensive operation are gradually growing," says Zhdanov.
At the same time, according to him, the situation in the Donetsk region is more stable than in the Lugansk region.
"There, the Russians have a very bad advancement. Part of the Donetsk region is still holding on to the positions of the line of demarcation according to the Minsk agreements - the Russians have not advanced a millimeter there. They are trying to attack from the north (Izyum), but there are no successes either. We are standing we are firmly on the defensive there, we are holding the lines and slowly grinding the Russian Armed Forces," Zhdanov said.
He noted that if Russian troops manage to capture the entire territory of the Lugansk region, then all remaining forces will be transferred to Donetsk.
"But I would pay attention to one feature: not all those forces, but what remains of them. Perhaps they will try to throw the rest of their forces into the Donetsk region, but I think that at that moment, they will have nothing to throw. They need an operational pause for the creation of new reserves. They have nothing to fight with today. God grant them to keep the defense. As soon as they stop, we will begin counter-offensive actions. This is the last gasp they gathered around Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, and what's next? That is why today with Lobbyists of the Russian Federation climbed through all the cracks, who talk about the readiness of the Russian side for negotiations," the expert says.
