Ukraine's armed forces have dealt a crushing blow to Russian claims of "irreversibly" annexing the Donbas region, against a backdrop of threats of nuclear retaliation. The Ukrainian town of Lyman, where the Russian occupation administration had just organized a mock annexation referendum, returned to Ukrainian control on Sunday, October 2, after several days of fierce fighting. "At 12:30 local time, the city of Lyman is completely cleared of Russian occupiers," the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said in a tweet. Images of Ukrainian soldiers walking in front of the municipal administration of this city of 20,000 inhabitants located in the north of the Donetsk region were already posted the day before on social media.
While many pro-Kremlin commentators deplored a defeat that was expected for several days due to a lack of reinforcements, the Russian Ministry of Defense minimized its significance. In a statement on October 1 on Telegram, the ministry said: "More than 200 Ukrainian soldiers were eliminated in the Krasnyi Lyman area [the Soviet name for Lyman]. Despite the losses suffered, having a clear superiority in forces and means, the enemy is amassing its personnel and continuing the offensive in this direction. Due to the creation of a threat of encirclement, the allied troops have made a retreat (...) to more advantageous lines of defense." Footage of Russian soldiers taken prisoner in and around Lyman suggests that the Russian retreat was not as orderly as Moscow claims, although it is impossible to measure the casualties suffered by the invader.
'A historic mistake for Russia'
In fact, the Ukrainian counter-offensive is rapidly continuing to push eastward. By Sunday evening, the front line had already moved 20 kilometers further east, into the Luhansk region, approaching Kreminna, a town of similar size to Lyman. As usual, the Ukrainian army is carrying out a maneuver to surround the city and attack it from three directions: one in the north to cut the P-66 road, the main supply route from Russia; and the other two from the west and south.
The Russian army is now trying to use Kreminna to stop the Ukrainian advance. Behind the city is the vast industrial conurbation of Lysychansk, Sievierodonetsk and Rubizhne – which had a population of 200,000 before the invasion. Moscow only managed to take control of this conurbation at the beginning of July after more than three months of massive bombardments that almost razed the three cities to the ground, with a very heavy civilian and military toll.
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