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Russia withdrew its troops from the strategic city of Lyman in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine, the Defense Ministry in Moscow said, as Kyiv’s counteroffensive against Russia’s invasion made further gains.
The retreat by Russia comes a day after President Vladimir Putin proclaimed the annexation of Donetsk, along with three other regions, following referendums that Western countries declared a “sham.”
Due to “a threat of encirclement, allied troops were withdrawn” from Lyman “to more advantageous lines,” the Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday in a Telegram post.
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry earlier Saturday said Ukrainian Air Assault Forces were entering Lyman. The Ukrainian army “has and will always have the decisive vote in today’s and any future ‘referendums’,” the ministry said on Twitter, posting a video of what appear to be Ukrainian soldiers raising their country’s flag at the outskirts of the city.
Lyman has been an important logistics and supply hub for Russian forces fighting in eastern Ukraine. Its loss will further cripple Moscow’s supply lines just as Ukrainian troops are stepping up a counteroffensive in the east that has pushed Russian forces from the Kharkiv area.
“Lyman is important because it is the next step towards the liberation of the Ukrainian Donbas,” said Serhii Cherevatyi, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s eastern forces. “It is an opportunity to go further to Kreminna and Sievierodonetsk, and it is psychologically very important,” Reuters quoted him as saying.
The recapture of Lyman is the latest success in a Ukrainian counterassault that has seen Kyiv’s forces reclaim a vast amount of Russian-occupied territory in eastern Ukraine as Moscow’s troops have abandoned the front lines. The surge by Ukraine prompted Putin to mobilize 300,000 reservists and threaten to deploy nuclear weapons in the Ukraine war.
The Russian mobilization has prompted Kyiv to call for more weapons from its Western allies, bolstered by Ukraine’s recent battlefield successes. The U.S. this week announced a $1.1 billion arms package for Ukraine, including 18 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS).
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