Russia says ready to rebuild Luhansk & Donetsk regions for 'normal, peaceful life'

Moscow's mayor Sergei Sobyanin on Friday stated that the Kremlin has agreed to rebuild the pro-Russian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, collectively known as Donbas in east Ukraine in order to restore "normal and peaceful life." Sobyanin's message came through a Telegram post after his brief visit to the embattled region. His remarks come as the ravaging Russian war in Ukraine has now lasted for over 100 days with scarring damages from relentless shelling in the eastern part of the country as a part of Russia's "military operation" to "liberate" Donbas region.

Taking to Telegram, Sobyanin informed that "On behalf of the President of Russia, Moscow will provide humanitarian assistance and assistance in restoring the social and engineering infrastructure of two cities- Luhansk and Donetsk," as quoted by The Guardian.

"We outlined plans to restore a normal peaceful life... It is important to quickly eliminate the consequences of hostilities and prepare the city's infrastructure for the autumn-winter period," the Moscow Mayor added.

Sobyanin also informed that the Luhansk regional administration and Moscow have signed agreements on "cooperation and twinning" to ensure adequate actions for the reconstruction of the war-torn region. "About 1,500 specialists from various departments of the Moscow municipal economy complex and 500 pieces of equipment are already in Luhansk," he said, further revealing that work is underway to rebuild schools, houses, and utilities. "The plans also include the improvement of streets, the Avangard stadium, and the city park," he said.

Moscow controls 90% of Luhansk: UK MoD

Sobyanin's statement comes a day after the UK Ministry of Defence in its intelligence briefing on the Russian war flagged that Russia now controls nearly 90% of the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR). “Russia controls over 90% of Luhansk oblast and is likely to gain complete control in the next two weeks. Russia has achieved these recent tactical successes at significant resource cost, and by concentrating force and fires on a single part of the overall campaign,” the UK Defence Ministry stated.

Meanwhile, the attacks have intensified in the Donetsk region with rapid artillery fire in Severodonetsk- the largest city in the region- whose complete siege is now an "unconditional priority" for Moscow, according to Russian FM Sergey Lavrov. In the wake of an unprecedented rise in artillery shelling, leading to agonising devastation, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pledged to hold off the advance with a strong counterattack. Describing the situation as "very difficult," during a televised speech, he added that some 90% of buildings and more than two-thirds of the city's housing stock has been completely destroyed.

The battle in eastern Ukraine is in the spotlight as Russia ekes out gradual yet significant gains in the separatist-held region. Moscow seeks to gain a concrete grip on the Moscow-backed separatist region after having failed to capture Kyiv in the early days of its invasion. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), however, said that escalated attacks on Severodonetsk have inflicted "fearful casualties" on civilians.

(Image: AP)