Ukraine forces regroup to defend Donetsk after losing eastern Luhansk province to Russia

Following Russia’s capture of the city of Lysychansk in Luhansk province on July 3, 2022, the five-month long war in Ukraine appears to have entered a new phase. Russian forces are now setting their sights on neighbouring Donetsk province, which together with Luhansk make up the Donbas, the industrialised region in eastern Ukraine that Russia had been focusing on since its retreat from the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in early April. Luhansk is the first province to fall to Russian forces since the annexation of Crimea in 2014. With help from Moscow-backed separatists in the region, Russia is now said to control Luhansk and about half of Donetsk. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has vowed to retake the occupied areas as his country’s armed forces continue to resist Russian attacks.