Russia says it has ‘full control’ over Luhansk after Ukrainian forces withdrew from the city.

Russian forces will target the eastern Donetsk cities of Sloviansk and Bakhmut next, the governor of the neighbouring province of Luhansk has warned.

President Vladimir Putin claimed victory in the heavily fought-over region of Luhansk on Monday after Ukraine’s military command confirmed that its troops had been forced to pull back from the city of Lysychansk.

Luhansk governor, Serhiy Haidai, says he now expects the cities to come under heavy attack as Russia attempts to take full control of Donbas. Haidai told Reuters:

The loss of the Luhansk region is painful because it is the territory of Ukraine.

For me personally, this is special. This is the homeland where I was born and I am also the head of the region.

[Russian forces] will not transfer 100% of their troops to some front because they need to hold the line. If they leave their positions then ours can carry out some kind of counteroffensive.

Still, for them goal number one is the Donetsk region. Sloviansk and Bakhmut will come under attack  Bakhmut has already started being shelled very hard.”

On Monday, Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, told Putin that “the operation” in Luhansk was complete. The Russian president said the military units “that took part in active hostilities and achieved success, victory” in Luhansk “should rest, increase their combat capabilities”.

The capture of the city of Lysychansk on Sunday completed the Russian conquest of Luhansk, one of two regions in Donbas, the industrialised eastern region of Ukraine that has become the site of the biggest battle in Europe in generations.

Bakhmut, Sloviansk and nearby Kramatorsk lie south-west of Lysychansk and are the main urban areas holding out against Russian forces in Donetsk.

The latest intelligence briefing from the UK’s Ministry of Defence said Russian forces would “almost certainly” switch to trying to capture Donetsk. The briefing said the conflict in Donbas had been “grinding and attritional” and this was unlikely to change in the coming weeks.