Even as Vladimir Putin proclaimed the “integration” of Ukrainian territory with Russia, Pro-Russian officials acknowledged that Russian troops were on the verge of encirclement in Lyman, their main garrison in the north of Donetsk province, threatening to open the way for Ukraine to recapture swathes of Luhansk and Donetsk provinces.
Denis Pushilin, the Kremlin’s pro-Russian leader in Donetsk acknowledged troops had lost full control of Yampil and Dobryshev, villages north and east of the city of Lyman, leaving Moscow’s garrison “half-encircled”.
The Ukrainian army was “trying at all costs to spoil our historic events”, he said, “this is very unpleasant news, but we must look soberly at the situation and draw conclusions from our mistakes.”
Ukraine’s military said it was withholding details of the situation on the battlefield until the area was stabilised, but that an operation was under way to encircle Russian forces.
“All the approaches and logistic routes of the enemy, through which they delivered ammunition and manpower, are in fact under fire control” of the Ukrainian army, said Serhii Cherevatyi, a spokesperson Ukrainian troops in the east.
Reports suggest that Russian forces are trying to retreat from the area.
- EU leaders reject illegal annexation of Ukrainian territory by Russia Image: By Ministry of Defense of Ukraine – Anti-terrorist operation in eastern Ukraine, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/…
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