Ukraine’s army reach Lyman, encircling Russian troops

• Ukrainian soldiers claim to have encircled Russian troops in Lyman.
• Capture would be a severe setback for Moscow after declaring annexation of Donetsk region.
• Video shows Ukrainian soldiers taping the yellow-and-blue national flag on the “Lyman” welcome sign.

Ukrainian soldiers arrived in the eastern bastion of Lyman, claiming to have encircled thousands of Russian troops in a military retaliation to the Kremlin a day after Moscow declared a slice of its land part of Russia.

Lyman’s capture would be a severe setback for Moscow after President Vladimir Putin declared the annexation of the Donetsk area, as well as three other regions, at a ceremony on Friday that Kyiv and the West called a sham.

A video tweeted by the president’s chief of staff showed two beaming Ukrainian soldiers taping the yellow-and-blue national flag on the “Lyman” welcome sign at the town’s entry in the Donetsk region’s north.

“On October 1, we will raise our state flag and plant it on our territory. Lyman will represent Ukraine “Standing on the hood of a military truck, one of the troops stated.

According to a spokeswoman for Ukraine’s eastern military, Russia has 5,000 to 5,500 men at Lyman, but the number of encircled troops could be fewer due to fatalities.

“The Russian grouping in the area of Lyman is surrounded,” the spokesperson, Serhii Cherevatyi, said on television.

The Russian Defence Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Russia’s last operational update was on Friday evening. On Saturday, the ministry’s Telegram channel published a series of congratulatory messages, including one from Putin, to mark an army holiday, Ground Forces Day.

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