The Russian army captured the strategically important city of Lisichansk in the Luhansk region. This means that the front line in eastern Ukraine will change. Russian troops are regrouping before launching an offensive south and west of the city. Military analysts say the next phase of the battle for Donbass will be no less bloody than the previous one..

The New York Times writes about this, adding that after the victory in Lysichansk, the Russian army controls a significant part of the Donbass.. The complete occupation of the Lugansk region allows Moscow to send all its forces to the southwest to try to capture Donetsk as well. The publication recalls that in both Ukrainian regions, Moscow created the so-called republics in 2014.. Since then, the fighting has effectively reached a stalemate and has been limited to sporadic shelling.. This situation continued until Russia's open invasion of Ukraine on February 24..

The so-called republics now play an important role in supporting the Russian offensive in the region. Recruited local militants help the occupiers to hold the captured cities in the Donbass, as well as in the south. The army of Ukraine has made small tactical successes near Kharkiv and Kherson. But Russia still maintains a strong presence in both regions.. And control over the city of Izyum will play a big role in the next phase of the Russian military campaign in the Donbass..

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In order to capture Lisichansk and neighboring Severodonetsk, Russian forces entered from the north, east and west, creating a so-called “pocket”, which became simply impossible to defend by the end of June.. Russian forces can now repeat this maneuver around other Ukrainian cities in the coming months.. Military experts are convinced that Moscow will replenish its depleted units before attacking the Ukrainian strategic hub in Bakhmut.

“To put it simply, the likely Russian strategy would be to create a new pocket around large industrial cities such as Slavyansk and Kramatorsk.. Ukrainian military officials are convinced that the Russian offensive will start from Popasna, located east of Bakhmut.

And the northern and western Russian lines will simply hold back the Ukrainian army,” the newspaper writes..

Both sides lost thousands of armored vehicles, artillery, as well as thousands of soldiers. Despite the influx of Western weapons, the Ukrainian army is still outnumbered by the enemy. Moscow's strategy is that it tries to deplete Ukrainian forces by bombarding them with artillery all day long before moving forward a little.. And nothing indicates that this strategy will change.