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8 mins ago
Ukrainian forces liberate a Donetsk village and attack Russian targets in Luhansk, according to the army
By Mariya Knight
Ukrainian troops pose for a photo in Lyman on October 1.
(Photo: Courtesy of Oleksiy Biloshytskyi/Reuters)
Ukrainian forces liberated the town of Torske near Lyman in the Donetsk region on Sunday as they move closer to retaking the Luhansk region, according to the Ukrainian military.
Serhiy Cherevaty, a spokesman for the Eastern Group of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said on national television that Ukrainian forces are hitting Russian military units in the Luhansk city of Kreminna "with fire."
"For them (the Russian occupiers), it is now very important to hold Kreminna. After overcoming Kreminna, the Ukrainian Armed Forces will go to Svatovo, Rubizhne, and later they will be able to liberate the Luhansk region," Cherevaty said, adding that they could also recapture Severodonetsk and Lysychansk if they regain control of Kreminna.
Ukraine Seeks NATO Membership With 'Accelerated Procedure' as Alliance Condemns Russia's Annexations
Zelensky welcomes progress:
Ukraine's latest gains come after Ukrainian forces liberated Donetsk's key city of Lyman over the weekend.
However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that Ukraine's military successes were not limited to Lyman.
In his late-night address to the nation, Zelensky said that a substantial part of the war reports he receives concern a growing list of recently liberated Ukrainian settlements.
"At least twice a day - in the morning and in the evening - I receive reports from our military. This week, the bulk of the reports is the list of settlements liberated from the enemy as part of our defense operation," Zelensky said. .
"The story of Lyman's liberation in the Donetsk region has become the most popular in the media. But the successes of our soldiers are not limited to Lyman."
Zelensky also praised the liberation of the Arkhanhelske and Myroliubivka settlements in the Kherson region by the soldiers of the 129th Ukrainian brigade.
10 mins ago
Lyman residents tell CNN the Russians left town in an orderly fashion
By Nick Paton Walsh, Victoria Butenk
The ghostly emptiness of the streets of Lyman, in eastern Ukraine, belies the city's strategic importance.
No sign of Russian troops at all this Sunday, few Russian tanks damaged, or Russian dead, or Russian prisoners.
Members of the Ukrainian National Guard from the Dnipro-1 unit roam some streets in small numbers.
The occasional rattle of gunfire, or the noise of artillery, pierces the silence.
Some locals emerge, riding their bikes, looking for food, puzzled by what is happening.
"One day I wear a cap, another day a different cap," says a woman through tears, pretending to remove a hat.
"How can we live like this?" he said, referring to the changing control of the city.
CNN was one of the first media outlets to reach the newly liberated city, 30 minutes after Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky declared that Lyman was completely clear of Russian troops.
Ukrainian officials and troops had repeatedly spoken of a large number of Moscow's best units being trapped there.
However, this Sunday there were few signs of encirclement.
Some officials said the Russian bodies had already been removed and the prisoners disposed of.
But locals offered another explanation: that Russian forces had left the city in an orderly manner on Friday.
"They got in their tanks and left," Tanya said, riding her bike back to the bomb shelter, where she still spends the nights with 15 other people.
12 mins ago
The presidents of 9 NATO countries support Ukraine's candidacy and ask for more military aid
By Mariya Knight
The national flags of NATO members are seen, on the day of a meeting of foreign ministers amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, at the Alliance headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on March 4, 2022. ( Photo: REUTERS/Yves Herman)
The presidents of nine Central and Eastern European NATO countries on Sunday issued a joint statement supporting Ukraine's bid for the defense alliance, while calling for increased military aid to Kyiv.
The presidents of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Slovakia and Romania expressed their strong support for "the decision of the 2008 Bucharest NATO Summit on Ukraine's future entry into the Alliance".
"We support Ukraine in its defense against the Russian invasion, demand that Russia immediately withdraw from all occupied territories, and encourage all Allies to substantially increase their military aid to Ukraine," the statement added.
The statement noted that the leaders of these countries - which make up nearly a third of NATO members - "visited Kyiv during the war and witnessed with their own eyes the effects of Russian aggression."
"We reiterate our support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. We do not and will never recognize Russian attempts to annex any Ukrainian territory," the statement said.
The statement also calls for "all those who commit crimes of aggression" to be brought to justice.
Some background:
The decision on Ukraine's request to join NATO on an accelerated basis must be agreed by all 30 alliance members, Jens Stoltenberg, NATO's secretary general, said on Sunday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Friday that his country would submit an application "within the framework of an accelerated procedure" to become a NATO member.
15 mins ago
US Secretary of Defense says Ukraine is 'progressing' on the battlefield
By Ellie Kaufmann
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
(Photo: Michael Probst/AP)
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he believes Ukraine is "making progress" in the country's Kherson region as they continue to counter Russia's invasion, adding that there has been a "kind of change in battlefield dynamics.
Austin attributed the change to the prowess of Ukrainian soldiers and their strategic use of weapons supplied by US and NATO allies, specifically their use of High Mobility Aerial Rocket Systems, or HIMARS.
He made the comments in an exclusive interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria that aired this Sunday on "Fareed Zakaria GPS."
"What we're seeing now is kind of a change in the dynamics of the battlefield," Austin said.
"They have done very, very well in the Kharkiv area and they have moved to take advantage of the opportunities. The fighting in the...Kherson region is a bit slower, but they are making progress."
Austin said Ukrainian forces have used "technology like HIMARS" and used it in the "right way" to "carry out attacks against things like logistics warehouses and command and control, which is taking away... taking away a significant capability to the Russians.
By doing so, the Ukrainians have "changed the dynamic, and created an opportunity for maneuver for the Ukrainians," he added.
Asked why the United States has not supplied the longer-range weapons the Ukrainians have requested, Austin said he communicates with his Ukrainian counterpart, Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, "routinely," and believes the United States has been "very effective in giving them those things that are very, very effective on a battlefield."
war in ukraine
