Ukraine’s Armed Forces had liberated five settlements near the city of Lyman, Donetsk region, and encircled Russian soldiers near Lyman, said representative of the Eastern group of troops Serhiy Cherevatyi on air of Ukraine’s radio Suspilne.
“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,” Cherevatyi said.
Furthermore, a video showing Ukrainian soldiers near the entrance to Lyman has been shared on the web.
Head of the administration of Ukraine’s Luhansk region Serhiy Gaidai said that the soldiers encircled in Lyman had asked their command for permission to withdraw from the city but had been denied.
“There are three possible scenarios going forward for the grouping of 5,000 rashists (a person who supports the ideology of Rashism, or Russian fascism, a term used to describe the political ideology of the current Russian government — translator’s note): try to break out, be killed together, or surrender,” he said. He also claimed that there was no longer a way for Russians to leave the city and they had been cut off from the supply lines.
Russia’s Ministry of Defence has not commented on Lyman being encircled, however, yesterday, 30 September, head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk “people’s republic” Denis Pushilin said that the Russian army did “not completely control” the settlements of Yampil and Drobysheve in the Donetsk region of Ukraine.
“We have worrying news regarding Lyman; it is now semi-encircled, we still control the road to Svatove, but it’s being fired upon. We partially lost control over Yampil and Drobysheve,” Pushilin said yesterday.
On 29 September, the US-based Institute for the Study of War reported that Ukrainian troops had likely nearly completed the encirclement of the Russian grouping in Lyman and cut critical ground lines of communication that supported Russian troops in the Drobysheve-Lyman area.
