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.
Both sides suffered heavy casualties in the fight for Luhansk, particularly during the siege of the twin cities of Lysychansk and Sievierodonetsk. Both have been left in ruins by the relentless Russian bombardment.
Ukrainian forces on Tuesday took up new defensive lines in Donetsk, where they still control major cities, while Putin told his troops to "absolutely rest and recover their military preparedness" while units in other areas keep fighting.
Since the outset of the conflict, Russia has demanded Ukraine hand Luhansk and Donetsk to pro-Moscow separatists, which have declared independent states.
"This is the last victory for Russia on Ukrainian territory," Oleksiy Arestovych, adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said in a video posted online.
"These were medium-sized cities. And this took from 4th April until 4th July - that's 90 days. So many losses...".
Arestovych said besides the battle for Donetsk, Ukraine was hoping to launch counter offensives in the south of the country.
"Taking the cities in the east meant that 60 per cent of Russian forces are now concentrated in the east and it is difficult for them to be redirected to the south," he said.
"And there are no more forces that can be brought in from Russia. They paid a big price for Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk."
Some military experts believe the hard-fought victory brought Russia little strategic gain, and the outcome of what has been dubbed the "battle of the Donbas" remained in the balance.
"It's a tactical victory for Russia but at an enormous cost," said Neil Melvin of the RUSI think tank in London.
"This has taken 60 days to make very slow progress. The Russians may declare some kind of victory, but the key war battle is still yet to come."
Melvin said the decisive battle for Ukraine was likely to take place not in the east, where Russia is mounting its main assault, but in the south, where Ukraine has begun a counter-offensive to recapture territory.
"This is where we see the Ukrainians are making progress around Kherson. There are counter-attacks beginning there and it's most likely that we'll see the momentum swing to Ukraine as it tries to then mount a large-scale counter-offensive to push the Russians back," he said.
Zelenskiy said on Monday that despite Ukraine's withdrawal from Lysychansk, its troops continued to fight.
"The Armed Forces of Ukraine respond, push back and destroy the offensive potential of the occupiers day after day," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video message.
"We need to break them. It is a difficult task. It requires time and superhuman efforts. But we have no alternative."
The battle for Luhansk is the closest Moscow has come to achieving one of its stated objectives since its forces were defeated trying to capture Kyiv in March.
It marks Russia's biggest victory since it captured the southern port of Mariupol in late May.
Serhiy Gaidai, the Ukrainian governor of Luhansk, acknowledged his entire province was now effectively in Russian hands, but told Reuters: "We need to win the war, not the battle for Lysychansk ... It hurts a lot, but it's not losing the war."
Gaidai said Ukrainian forces that retreated from Lysychansk were now holding the line between Bakhmut and Sloviansk, preparing to fend off a further Russian advance.
Ukraine's hopes for a sustained counter-attack rest on receiving additional weapons from the West.
"It is a matter of how quickly the supplies come," Arestovych said.
"In the West, there just aren't enough weapons to be supplied. This is after all the biggest conflict since 1945 ... so more weapons have to be produced, and that production is on now.
"By autumn there will be a very considerable set of weapons."