As Russian forces neared their objective of taking control of Lysychansk, Ukraine evacuated its troops from the eastern city, handing control of the last significant Kyiv-controlled bastion in the Luhansk region to Russia.
Extending the city’s defense would have had “fatal consequences” given Russian superiority in troops, artillery, aviation, and ammunition, according to Ukraine’s general staff.
Making a crucial step toward taking command of the whole Donbas region of Ukraine, the Kremlin declared complete control of the city.
Ukraine will lay out a plan to recover from the Russian invasion, which left Ukrainian cities in ruins, millions of people without homes, and its economy destroyed. On Monday, an infrastructure, climate, and digital investment plan was announced at a two-day conference in the Swiss city of Lugano.
Separately, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, will provide a platform to organize contributions from the European Union to mobilize more than 500 billion euros ($522 billion) for Ukraine.
After taking over Lysychansk, Russia shifted its attention westward into Donetsk and stepped up shelling of the area, according to Ukrainian officials. Reportedly, nine civilians were killed and 25 were injured in residential areas that Moscow’s forces also attacked during the past 24 hours. Russia is seeking to stop a counteroffensive by Kyiv’s forces in the northeastern Kharkiv region as well as the southern Kherson and Mykolayiv districts, according to the Ukrainian military.
Russian aggression against Ukraine is “the greatest threat to the global world order,” U.S. ambassador Nicholas Burns said at the Tsinghua University-organized World Peace Forum on Monday.
A question regarding what China could do to settle the problem surrounding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine prompted Burns to demand that Beijing’s foreign ministry stop disseminating “Russian propaganda” and “lies.”
Burns also reaffirmed U.S. President Joe Biden’s appeal for Beijing to refrain from assisting Moscow in waging war.