Russia’s Defence Ministry confirms withdrawing troops from Donetsk region’s Lyman

Russia’s Ministry of Defence has confirmed that Russian troops had withdrawn from the city of Lyman in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, reports Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti.

“Due to the risk of being encircled, the allied forces were withdrawn from Krasny Lyman to more advantageous frontiers,” the ministry said in a statement. 

Immediately after the publication of the ministry’s statement, head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov declared that colonel-general Alexander Lapin was at fault for Russian forces losing Lyman. 

“The defence of this area was led by commander of the Central Military District colonel-general Alexander Lapin. The very Lapin that received a Hero of Russia medal for capturing Lysychansk, even though de-facto he was nowhere near [Lysychansk]. He got the command of the Western Military District troops, too,” Kadyrov wrote in a post on his Telegram channel. 

According to him, “commanders from the General Staff are covering” for Lapin. “If it were up to me, I would demote Lapin to a private, strip him of his medals, and send him to the frontline with a rifle in his hands to wash off his shame with blood,” Kadyrov added.

Earlier today, Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported to have liberated five settlements near the city of Lyman and encircled Russian soldiers nearby.

“The Russian grouping in the area of Lyman is encircled. Stabilising activities continue in the settlements of Yampil, Novoselivka, Shandryholove, Drobysheve, and Stavky that have been liberated,” representative of the Eastern group of troops Serhiy Cherevatyi said. Furthermore, a video showing Ukrainian soldiers near the entrance to Lyman was shared online. 

In the summer, Russia’s Defence Ministry revealed the names of the South and Centre groups commanders — respectively, army general Sergey Surovikin and colonel-general Alexander Lapin. BBC Russia later found out that Alexander Lapin awarded his son Denis Lapin, commander of a tank regiment, for participating in the unsuccessful offensive on Ukraine’s Sumy and Chernihiv.