A decisive war prize? Ukraine said on Saturday that it had “surrounded” several thousand Russian soldiers in Lyman, a strategic eastern town in the Donetsk region, annexed by Moscow on Friday despite condemnations from kyiv and the West.
“The Russian forces are surrounded in Lyman” after having taken over five villages in the surroundings, declared on television a spokesman for the Ukrainian army in the East, Serguiï Tcherevatiï, quoted by the Interfax-Ukraine agency. “The soldiers are entering the city”, assures the Ukrainian army on Saturday afternoon.
In the minutes that followed, the Russian army said it “withdrew” from Lyman. This town had been taken by Russian forces at the end of May. It had since been used for troop deployments and ammunition supply.
What’s happening
Engaged for several weeks in a counter-offensive which seems effective, the Ukrainian army has made two advanced advances, characteristic of its movements, north and south of the town of Lyman, in eastern Ukraine. A trap that began to build on Friday with takeovers of villages, announced by the authorities, from Friday. According to the historian and assiduous follower of the conflict, the lawyer Cédric Mas, the fighting is always intense in this city this Saturday afternoon.
Ukrainian soldiers “entered” the city on Saturday during the day, the Ukrainian Defense said. “Ukrainian Air Assault Forces are entering Lyman, Donetsk region,” the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said on Twitter.
Faced with this rapid advance, the Russian “front” then crumbled and many would have fled. The Russian Defense Ministry said it had withdrawn Russian troops from Lyman “due to the threat of encirclement”. “Allied troops have been withdrawn from Lyman to better positions,” the Russian Defense Ministry acknowledged, as quoted by Russian state news agencies.
They would thus have allowed the two “points” of the Ukrainian counter-offensive to meet east of Lyman. Except that, as the Reuters news agency reminds us, Lyman is a key logistics hub for the Russian army in the eastern region of Donetsk.
Two smiling Ukrainian soldiers taped the yellow and blue national flag to the ‘Lyman’ welcome sign at the entrance to the city in the northern Donetsk region, video released by President Zelensky’s chief of staff shows. ” October 1st. We unfurl our state flag and establish it on our land. Lyman will be Ukraine,” said one of the soldiers, standing on the hood of a military vehicle.
How many soldiers “surrounded”?
According to the spokesman for the Ukrainian army in the East, Sergiï Tcherevatiï, “about 5,000 to 5,500 Russians” had been entrenched in and around Lyman in recent days. It is not known, however, how many are still present or may have retreated. The official added that there had been “numerous deaths and injuries”, but could not provide further details.
According to Cédric Mas, Chechen soldiers would also be trapped. For Serguiï Gaïdaï, the governor of the neighboring region of Lugansk, the Russian soldiers present “in the cauldron” of Lyman “have three options: to flee, to die all together or to surrender”.
In the early afternoon, several Russian military commentators posted messages on their Telegram channels claiming that the Ukrainian military had either “already captured or, at a minimum, entered Lyman”. “If there is a chance to defend and retake the city, then it is incredibly small,” said a pro-war Russian commentator, picked up by the BBC.
The governor of Luhansk said Russian troops trapped in Lyman had asked commanders if they could retreat, but the request was reportedly denied by Moscow.
What is the context in this region?
Donetsk is one of four regions that Putin says are now Russian. Friday evening, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the “significant results” of the counter-offensive of his troops in the East, pushing the Russians to withdraw from many conquered territories.
A little earlier on Friday, a senior pro-Russian separatist official, Denis Pouchiline, had admitted that the Russians present in Lyman were fighting there “at the end of their tether”, facing a “difficult” situation. He also said that the Russian forces there were “partially surrounded” by Ukrainian soldiers.
Taking Lyman would be a key victory for kyiv, with the conquest of this important railroad junction in the Donetsk region annexed by Russia on Friday. A capture of Lyman could open the door wide for a Ukrainian advance towards the Lugansk region. The loss to Moscow of Lyman would be a new setback for the Russian army after having suffered several military failures since the beginning of September.