The Ukrainian Armed Forces have established control over the settlements of Arkhanhelske and Myrolyubivka in the Kherson region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an address dedicated to the 221th day of the war.
Soldiers of the 129th brigade of Kryvy Rih liberated the settlements of Arkhanhelske and Myroliubivka, he stated. “The story of the liberation of Lyman in Donetsk region has now become the most popular in the media. But the successes of our soldiers are not limited to Lyman,” Zelensky said.
In early September, Russia was forced to retreat from Izium, Kupyansk and Balakliya. Back then, Zelensky stated that the Ukrainian army had liberated a settlement in the Donetsk region and two more in the southern part of the country.
On 1 October, the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced that they had liberated five settlements near Lyman in the Donetsk region and encircled the Russian military there. On 2 October, Zelensky stated that Ukraine had established full control over Lyman. The Russian Defence Ministry confirmed that Russian troops had retreated from the city.
After that, head of Russia’s Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov and founder of the Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin lambasted Aleksandr Lapin, the commander of Russia’s Central Military District, for retreating.
The New York Times earlier reported, citing US officials, that Russian army commanders had wanted to retreat from Ukraine’s Kherson to save the equipment and manpower, however, Russian President Vladimir Putin did not let them.
On 21 September, Vladimir Putin announced a “partial mobilisation” in Russia. The Russian Defence Ministry stated that up to 300,000 people would be drafted. Meanwhile, a source of Novaya Gazeta. Europe in the Kremlin stated that up to a million people might be drafted into the army in accordance with the hidden article of the mobilisation order. The Kremlin denied these reports.
