Ukraine War: Lyman 'Fully Cleared' - Defeat Puts Pressure on Putin

Created: 2022-10-02 13:54

By: Teresa Toth, Andreas Apetz, Lucas Maier, Christian Stör, Sarah Neumeyer

Ukraine is celebrating further successes in the east.

Recapturing Lyman is a huge setback for Russia.

The news ticker on Sunday.

• After defeat in Lyman in eastern Ukraine:

  Russia strengthens positions in the south

• Lambrecht for the first time in Ukraine:

  Minister assures new weapons - and has to seek protection in a bunker

• Editor

  's note: You can read all the news about the Ukraine conflict in this news ticker.

  Some of the information comes from warring factions in the Ukraine war and cannot be checked directly and independently.

+++ 1:36 p.m .:

After the withdrawal of Russian troops from Lyman in eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selenskyj announced full control of the strategically important city.

The city had been “completely cleared” since 12:30 p.m. (1:30 p.m. CEST), the President said in a video just ten seconds long on Sunday afternoon.

The spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, Igor Konashenkov, announced the withdrawal on Saturday and justified the step with the risk of encirclement.

Ukrainian authorities had previously spoken of around 5,000 encircled Russian soldiers.

It is still unclear how many soldiers were killed or taken prisoner. With the fall of the city, the path to Kreminna and Svatowe opened up for the Ukrainian troops.

Both cities are in the Luhansk region and are – especially Swatowe – important transport hubs.

News about the Ukraine war: Russian soldier speaks of catastrophic equipment

+++ 12.41 p.m .:

The Ukrainian secret service has published a recorded telephone conversation between a Russian soldier and his mother, in which he explains that the Kremlin’s propaganda is a lie and that the situation at the front is very difficult for the Russian soldiers.

He and his comrades would only have outdated equipment and rarely get new military vehicles.

The soldier was outraged by what was being shown on Russian television.

"It's all rubbish!

What is happening here is an absolute disgrace.

We cry when we see our gear."

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After bankruptcy in Lyman: "Putin's bloodhound" and blogger get angry - "Does the president know about it?"

Troops "virtually gone"?

Russia is apparently withdrawing thousands of soldiers from the EU border

Ukraine war news: Defeat in Lyman triggers criticism in Russia – commanders under pressure

+++ 11.45 a.m .:

The withdrawal of Russian troops from the city of Lyman has triggered a wave of public criticism of the military leadership in Russian government circles.

A briefing by the UK Ministry of Defense said the city in eastern Donetsk Oblast had previously been defended by allegedly undermanned Russian units.

Many Russian soldiers were killed when they retreated down the only road out of the city that was still under Russian control.

So far, however, there is no concrete information about the exact number of dead and prisoners.

Further defeats by the Russian army in the regions of the annexed territories are likely to further fuel criticism and increase pressure on senior commanders.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, during a video conference in front of the Athens Democracy Forum.

(Archive photo) © Ukrainian Presidential Press Office/dpa

The foreign policy spokesman for the Union faction, Jürgen Hardt (CDU), calls for more German commitment to Kyiv after the Russian withdrawal from the Ukrainian city of Lyman.

"Germany should take the recapture of Lyman as an opportunity to do more," Hardt told the

news agency .

The success of the Ukrainian troops in Lyman also shows “how this war can be ended in the foreseeable future.

Ukraine now needs armored personnel carriers and main battle tanks for this.”

News on the Ukraine war: Russia strengthens positions in the south

+++ 8.23 ​​a.m .:

Ukrainian forces have recaptured Lyman and Russian troops are withdrawing from the area.

According to the latest analysis by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), this indicates that Russia is currently prioritizing the illegally annexed areas in the south.

The Russian military is therefore strengthening its positions in the Cherson and Zaporizhia regions.

According to US war experts, this decision was "quite likely" made by Russian President Vladimir Putin and not by the military leadership.

This suggests "that Putin is much more interested in the strategic areas in Cherson and Zaporizhia than in Luhansk."

News about the Ukraine war: Selenskyj wants to continue the offensive

Update from Sunday, October 2, 6:48 a.m .:

The frenzy of the annexation is followed by disillusionment in Russia: after the bitter defeat in the battle for the strategically important city of Lyman in eastern Ukraine, anger is brewing in Moscow.

Several high-ranking Russian politicians are calling for a heads-roll in the military leadership and even for the use of nuclear weapons.

Ukraine and the West appear unimpressed: In Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskyj mocked the fact that Ukrainian flags were now hanging where the Russians had previously held mock referendums.

On Sunday, the Ukrainian army is likely to focus on a further advance in northern Donbass and attempt to advance in the Luhansk region towards the important transport hubs of Svatove and Kreminna.

In his video speech, Zelenskyi announced the reconquest of other areas controlled by Russia.

"During the week, new Ukrainian flags were waved over the Donbass," he said.

"There will be even more in the coming week."

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin called the recapture of Lyman a "significant" success for Ukraine, reports The

.

The US was "very encouraged" by Ukraine's success in recapturing the town of Lyman in Donetsk Oblast.

"Lyman is right on the Russians' supply lines, and they used those routes to get men and supplies south and west."

News in the Ukraine war: Zelenskyj blames Russia for "historic mistake"

+++ 10:45 p.m .:

In his daily video speech, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj declared the strategically important city of Lyman in the east of the country to be recaptured.

"The Ukrainian flag is already flying in Lyman in the Donetsk region," said the head of state of Ukraine.

The fighting within the city would continue, but there was no trace of the "pseudo-referendum".

The military defeat caused resentment in the Russian leadership.

"By the way, they already started biting each other there: they are looking for the culprits, accusing some generals of failure," Zelenskyy commented on the angry reactions from Moscow to the retreat in Lyman.

The Ukraine President also described the start of the war as a "historic mistake for Russia".

News about the Ukraine war: Lambrecht in Odessa for the first time

+++ 9:20 p.m .:

Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht is on site for the first time in the Ukraine war.

The SPD politician was welcomed by Ukrainian counterpart Oleksiy Resnikov on Saturday in the port city of Odessa on the Black Sea.

Lambrecht said the delivery of a first unit of the already promised ground-based air defense system Iris-T SLM.

During the defense minister's visit, two Russian rockets landed in Odessa, and Lambrecht had to seek shelter in a bunker.

Ukraine war: Explosions in Crimea - plane apparently sets fire to ammunition stores

+++ 18:11:

In the Ukraine war, Russia is currently losing ground.

There is more bad news for the Kremlin following the withdrawal of troops from the key city of Lyman in the Donetsk region.

According to the Ukrainian news portal

, explosions are said to have occurred at an important airport in Crimea.

Accordingly, the authorities said that there was an emergency situation at the military airport near Sevastopol.

Twitter videos show a large column of smoke rising.

 "According to the information of the rescue workers, a plane overshot the runway and caught fire," wrote the Moscow-appointed governor of the city of Sevastopol, Mikhail Rasvozhayev, in the news service Telegram.

Observers suspected that an ammunition store could have caught fire, reports the

.

War in Ukraine: More than 20 civilians killed – Russia probably fires on fleeing convoy

+++ 5:11 p.m .:

Several civilians were killed in a Russian attack on a civilian convoy near the village in the Kharkiv region.

The number of fatalities found has now risen from 20 to 24.

According to the Ukrainian news portal

, 13 children and a pregnant woman are said to be among those killed.

The Russian and Ukrainian sides accuse each other of being responsible for the shelling.

News in the Ukraine war: Russia withdraws from key city of Lyman

+++ 4.40 p.m .:

The Russian Ministry of Defense announced on Saturday afternoon the withdrawal of all Russian troops from the important key city of Lyman in eastern Ukraine.

"Because of the threat of encirclement, allied troops were withdrawn from Lyman to better positions," the Department of Defense statement said.

More than 5,000 Russian soldiers were encircled in the city by Ukrainian forces.

Ukraine war news: Russian troops surrounded in east – 20 civilians killed

+++ 2:09 p.m .:

According to a regional governor, at least 20 civilians were found dead in their vehicles in northeastern Ukraine.

news agency

.

"The occupiers attacked civilians who tried to flee from the shelling," Kharkiv Region Governor Oleg Synegubov wrote on Saturday in the online service Telegram, adding: "This is an atrocity that has no justification."

According to them, the attack happened near the city of Kupyansk.

The information about the dead is preliminary.

Investigators and experts drove to the location in the Kharkiv region to investigate the case.

There was initially no information from Moscow about the case near Kupjansk.

The Ukrainian information was not independently verifiable.

News about the Ukraine war: Denmark and Great Britain pledge their continued support to Ukraine

+++ 1:39 p.m .:

After the illegal annexation of Ukrainian territories by Russia, Denmark and Great Britain have pledged their continued support to Ukraine.

"Britain and Denmark support Ukraine very strongly and we will continue to do so and work together," Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in London on Saturday after meeting her British counterpart Liz Truss.

Commenting on the gas leaks at the Nord Stream pipelines, which the two politicians exchanged, Frederiksen said: "It is very important for me to emphasize that the Danish authorities believe that it was not an accident.

This is sabotage of critical infrastructure.

So it's a very serious situation.” Truss also said it was “clearly an act of sabotage.”

Great Britain has offered its help in the investigation.

News in the Ukraine war: Russian troops surrounded in the east - "next step to liberation"

+++ 11.32 a.m .:

According to the Ukrainian military, Ukraine has surrounded Russian troops in the eastern city of Lyman.

Taking the city, which Russia has been using as a logistics and transportation hub for its operations in the north of the Donetsk region, would be another major setback for Russia.

"The Russian group in the Lyman area is surrounded," said Serhii Cherevatyi, spokesman for the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the East.

“Lyman is important because it is the next step in liberating Ukraine's Donbas.

It's an opportunity to advance further to Kreminna and Sievarodonetsk," he said.

A total of around 5,000 to 5,500 Russian soldiers were surrounded.

The operation is still ongoing.

News about the Ukraine war: Head of Zaporizhia nuclear power plant abducted

+++ 8.42 a.m .:

The head of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant occupied by Russian troops, Ihor Murashov, has been kidnapped by Moscow troops, according to Ukrainian information.

This was announced by the President of the operating company Enerhoatom, Petro Kotin, on Saturday (October 1).

The general director of Europe's largest nuclear power plant was stopped the day before by a Russian patrol at the Enerhodar nuclear power plant site, dragged out of the car and taken to an unknown location, blindfolded.

There was initially no explanation from the Russian side.

Russia has occupied the nuclear power plant since early March.

"There is no information about his fate," Kotin said on the Telegram news channel.

He accused Russia of nuclear terrorism against the management and employees of the power plant.

Murashov, who bears the main responsibility for the safe functioning and nuclear safety of the plant, must be released immediately.

Kotin also called on the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, to campaign for Murashov's release.

The nuclear power plant had been repeatedly shot at.

Both the Russian occupying forces and the Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly warned of a possible nuclear incident with massive repercussions for the whole of Europe.

The IAEA is committed to rapid further talks about a ceasefire zone around the nuclear power plant.

According to its management, the state-run Russian nuclear company Rosatom, which controls the power plant together with Russian units, is ready to talk about the technical aspects of a protection zone.

News in the Ukraine war: Risk of Russian use of nuclear weapons "increasing"

+++ 6.39 a.m .:

A Russian use of nuclear weapons in the Ukraine war is not unthinkable, according to the external advisor to the Ukrainian Presidential Office, Mychajlo Podoliak.

"In view of the internal panic in the Russian Federation and the increasing military defeats, the risk of this is increasing," said Podoljak of the

.

, foreign policy expert Wolfgang Ischinger says Russia only intends to use nuclear weapons in response to “existential threats”

.

"The highest conceivable level of escalation would have been reached with a nuclear first use," said the former chairman of the Munich Security Conference.

"Russia must understand that a nuclear war can never be won and must never be waged," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in Brussels on Friday.

At the same time, Stoltenberg warned that Russia would have serious consequences if it used nuclear weapons.

This was clearly communicated to Moscow.

In connection with the war of aggression in Ukraine, the Kremlin has repeatedly and indirectly threatened to use nuclear weapons.

Announcing the mobilization of 300,000 reservists for the war, Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week: "If the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will absolutely use all available means to protect Russia and our people.

That's not a bluff.” Observers saw it as a threat to use nuclear weapons.

Ukraine war news: Russia blocks UN resolution on “illegal referenda”

+++ 9.50 p.m .:

In the Ukraine war, the UN Security Council on Friday dealt with the annexation of four Ukrainian regions by Russia.

Russia vetoed a resolution condemning previous “illegal” referendums in the Ukrainian regions.

Ten of the 15 Security Council members voted in favor of the text presented by the US and Albania.

Four countries - China, India, Brazil and Gabon - abstained.

The resolution was doomed to fail in the Security Council from the start.

As one of five permanent members of the United Nations' most powerful body, Russia has the power of veto to block any resolution.

News in the Ukraine war: NATO Secretary General: "Severe escalation since the beginning of the war"

+++ 19:26:

After Vladimir Putin's incendiary speech on the annexation of the Ukrainian territories, NATO Chairman Stoltenberg spoke out.

The "land grab" that Putin committed today is the "sharpest escalation since the beginning of the war," said Stoltenberg at a press conference, as reported by the

.

In the evening in Brussels, the NATO Secretary General also condemned the fact that Putin had engaged in "nuclear saber-rattling".

“None of that shows strength.

It shows weakness,” emphasized the Norwegian in Brussels.

He called the annexation of the territories "illegal" and reiterated NATO's "unwavering support" for Ukraine.

He also pledged further support for the defense of Ukraine.

News in the Ukraine war: Ukraine formally applies for NATO membership

+++ 16.15:

Ukraine has officially submitted its application to join the NATO alliance.

This was announced by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

In a video speech, Zelenskyy said that Ukraine could count on quick accession.

"In fact, we have already become a NATO ally," Zelenskyy said, according to the

.

"[Our accession] would be a formal consolidation of the actual state of things that we have already achieved."

Ukraine war news: Russia warns Kyiv against "aggression" in occupied territories

+++ 3.10 p.m .:

Russia wants to see battles in the occupied territories after the annexation as an attack on its sovereignty.

That would then be an act of aggression, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

The Luhansk and Donetsk regions would be fully annexed to Russia and Russia would liberate the part of Donetsk currently controlled by Ukrainian troops.

Peskov initially left open whether Moscow wants to do the same in Cherson and Zaporizhia.

Russia does not fully control these areas either.

+++ 2.40 p.m .:

 Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin has declared four occupied Ukrainian territories to be Russian territory.

The admission of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Cherson should be contractually sealed today, Putin said in a speech broadcast on state television.

The annexations are not recognized internationally.

Ukraine war news: Lyman almost completely trapped

Update from Friday, September 30, 1:45 p.m .: Things

are not going well for Russia in the Ukraine war.

The head of the Donetsk separatists has now had to admit that the strategically important small town of Lyman is almost completely surrounded by Ukrainian troops (see also the first report).

"Right now, Lyman is in a hemisphere, the road to Swatowe is under our control but is periodically under fire," Denis Puschilin wrote on Telegram.

The neighboring towns of Jampil and Drobyschewe are no longer completely under the control of Russian troops.

Reserves would be used.

Ukrainian sources showed a video of a Ukrainian soldier at an administrative building in Yampil saying "Yampil is ours".

The Lyman area is important as a bridgehead for a further advance of Ukrainian troops deep into the neighboring Luhansk region.

News about the Ukraine war: Selenskyj accuses Russia of terror

First report from Friday, September 30th:

Moscow/Kiev – A war has been raging in Europe for seven months.

There is still no end in sight to the bloodshed in Ukraine.

After Vladimir Putin recognized the occupied Ukrainian regions of Cherson and Zaporizhia as independent states last night, the Kremlin chief wants to annex the regions today.

From Moscow's point of view, this is a prerequisite for the regions to be able to apply for admission to the Russian Federation.

News about the Ukraine war: Important city of Lyman practically surrounded

Meanwhile, Russian troops are under heavy pressure in the Donetsk region.

In the battle for the strategically important small town of Lyman, they have taken several locations east of the city, according to Russian sources.

"Around midnight, Ukrainian troops managed to effectively encircle Lyman," the nationalist military

.

The village of Stawky in northern Lyman has fallen, and east of Lyman, in Zarichne, there is street fighting.

The Russian military blogger Semyon Pegov also confirmed the Ukrainian capture of Stavky.

"The road between Lyman and Torske is under constant enemy fire,"

continued.

After the advance of the Ukrainian forces west and north of Lyman, the road to Torske was the only route of supply for the Russian garrison in the city.

The blog also reports on a Ukrainian storming of the city of Yampil, southeast of Lyman.

(cs/dpa)