Find the story inside why Putin is in danger of serious humiliation Ukrainian forces make their way into a major city on Russia’s territory.
On Saturday, Ukrainian forces entered the important city of Lyman, and Russia announced that it had decided to withdraw its troops.
On Twitter, Ukraine’s defense ministry stated, “Ukrainian Air Assault Forces are entering Lyman, Donetsk region,” along with a video that appeared to show a Ukrainian soldier raising a flag as tweeted by Defense of Ukraine (@Defense) on October 1, 2022
The announcement comes one day after President Vladimir Putin made the Donetsk region, which includes Lyman, a part of the Russian homeland. Serhiy Cherevaty, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s army in the east, told Ukrainian news outlet Hromadske that almost all logistical routes were under Ukrainian control on Friday as Ukrainian forces began to encircle the city.
The Institute for the Study of War echoed that assessment, stating that Russian forces in the city and the surrounding area had been cut off from crucial ground lines of communication as of early Friday. The ISW stated that any new Russian troops would be “highly unlikely” to be able to supplement the existing force.
On Saturday, Russia’s Ministry of Defense stated on Telegram that “the creation of a threat of encirclement” had led to the decision to relocate its troops to “more advantageous frontiers.”
The Guardian reported at the time that Russian forces conquered Lyman toward the end of May. It is an important city for Putin’s planned move into the Donbas, which includes the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. According to Reuters, Lyman is a logistics and supply hub for Putin’s operations in the region.
The military developments occur as Putin declares both regions to be Russian territory based on widely discredited referendums. Prof. Michael Clarke, a security and defense expert from the University of Exeter, stated that such a reversal on territory that he had just declared Russian would make him “look stupid.”
He stated that the defeat would not go over well with Putin’s hawkish critics, such as former commander Igor Girkin, who now runs a far-right military blog.
“They will say, According to Clarke, who spoke with Insider, “Well, look, you’ve declared these to be Russian territory, so now you’re now losing bits of Mother Russia.”
In a somewhat bewildering statement that was posted on Telegram around noon local time, one of Putin’s puppets in the region confirmed the presence of Ukrainian troops around the city.
The Donetsk People’s Republic, a breakaway separatist state in the region that neither Ukraine nor the majority of the West recognizes, was led by Dennis Pushilin. The Ukrainian army “is trying with all its might to somehow overshadow this historical event for us,” he wrote.
“At the moment, Krasny Liman is in a semicircle,” he continued, referring to the city in Russian.
In a tweet, CNA’s Russia expert Michael Kofman wrote: Russian forces are being encircled at Lyman, so the announcement of Russia’s annexation is in stark contrast to the military situation on the ground.” As tweeted by Michael Kofman (@KofmanMichael) on September 30, 2022.
Clarke told Insider that Putin’s ability to advance or even hold a large portion of the Donbas is significantly hampered by the possibility of Lyman being recaptured. Clarke told Insider that Lyman was to be the starting point for Putin’s plan to take Slovyansk and Kramatorsk, two more cities, which would have established his dominance over the Donbas.
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However, he stated, Lyman’s probable defeat throws that strategy “out of the window.”It simply cannot be accomplished this side of winter.” According to Clarke, a second reason why Lyman’s capture would be such a strategic blow is that it would open a strategic path to cutting off Russia’s supply routes from the north to the south completely.
