The eastern Ukrainian town of Lyman, a stronghold of Russian or pro-Russian troops in the Donetsk region for more than four months, is completely in Ukrainian hands. “The place has been cleared of Russians,” Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky said on Sunday.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday that troops had been withdrawn to take positions that were more defensible. For some time Lyman had been virtually surrounded by Ukrainian soldiers who, according to Russian media reports, were better trained, better armed and more numerous in this part of the front. On the Russian side, it is feared that the Ukrainians will seize the victory to advance further south into the Donetsk province and to the east where the Luhansk province is not far away.
The two provinces, along with two other provinces in southeastern Ukraine (Kherson and Zaporizhzhya) were annexed by Russia in a solemn ceremony at the Kremlin Grand Palace on Friday. Afterwards, a nationalist party followed on Red Square. The fall of Lyman was therefore an extra heavy defeat for President Vladimir Putin who invaded Ukraine on February 24.
Incidentally, the annexations are not internationally recognized. It is against the founding principles of the United Nations. Also, major powers favorable to Russia, notably China and India, have never recognized an annexation or people’s republic proclaimed by Putin’s government in the Caucasus and Ukraine.