Local forces surround and force 5,000 Russian soldiers to flee who defended this strategic location as a communications hub and gateway to Lugansk
The Ukrainian Army has confirmed that its troops have entered Liman this Saturday, a town of great strategic value due to its status as a transport hub and gateway to the Lugansk region, occupied by the Russians and whose annexation to Russia formalized the Friday President Vladimir Putin together with the territories of Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhia. The reconquest has taken place after some 5,000 invaders decided to withdraw in what represents a new military disaster on the front for the Kremlin after the recent disbandment of Kharkov.
The Ukrainian victory represents, if possible, one of the greatest humiliations of the Russian ruler since the beginning of the war since it occurs twenty-four hours after the solemn act of accession of the occupied territories to the “historical homeland”, as Putin himself said in his official speech. What in principle implies a new challenge from the president to the international community has now been clouded due to a backlash that once again shows the weaknesses of the Russian troops.
The arrival of the soldiers in Liman was announced by the spokesman for the Eastern Group of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Serhii Cherevatyi, in a televised appearance. “We are already in Lima. But the fight continues. Details will come later,” Cherevatyi said. Almost at the same time, the spokesman for the Russian Army, General Igor Konashenkov, has confirmed the withdrawal of his units from the city. The General Staff had stationed 5,000 soldiers there to secure a key position in Lugansk’s defense plans. By overpowering Liman, the Russians were simultaneously securing their eastern flank.
However, since this Friday the Ukrainians have carried out an envelope that has allowed them to practically surround the town. Critical to this closure were the cutting off of communications and the blocking of the main road through which the invaders received supplies. Denis Pushilin himself, head of the self-proclaimed republic of Donetsk, mentioned this clamp after Putin’s speeches in the Kremlin and Red Square on the occasion of the signing of the decrees. Pushilin already admitted yesterday afternoon the seriousness of the siege and pointed out that the Ukrainian military operation was “worrying” and a bad finishing touch to the new territorial annexations. This morning, the kyiv forces installed large loudspeakers aimed at Liman where a woman’s voice invited the soldiers to surrender. The Ukrainian commanders also issued their own proclamations: “Surrender or die.” Five thousand soldiers were locked in a bag. The largest siege suffered by the Russian Army since the beginning of the war.
“Since there was a threat of encirclement, the allied troops were withdrawn from the settlement towards more advantageous lines,” Russian General Konashenkov explained at a press conference. It has not been a simple exit either, but to blood and fire. Konashenkov has reported that the units have had to break through the siege by shooting. He has not quantified how many men he has lost, but he did point out that two hundred Ukrainians have died in the fighting.
The reconquest of Liman allows kyiv to recover a valuable railway junction and a beneficial location for its artillery, since from there it can bombard a good number of occupier positions in Lugansk. However, the United States War Institute has predicted that Russia will now build a new defensive line in front of the city to make it difficult for the Ukrainian Army to maneuver from there, thinking of an eventual incursion into Lugansk. Military sources maintain that the Ukrainian regiments have the far from simple task of fortifying the newly won territory, which requires strengthening the defenses and quickly opening the routes for the supply of weapons and other equipment.
Liman’s withdrawal further casts a shadow over the Russian mission in Ukraine, despite having annexed a not inconsiderable 15% of the territory, equivalent to the surface of Portugal. Maintaining it is turning into a titanic effort and a bloodshed that also calls into question the reliability of Vladimir Putin’s strategy and the capabilities of his General Staff. This operation coincides with bad news from the front for the Kremlin. Different trusted observers have recorded the discouragement of the first reservists sent to the battlefield, not only due to the psychological effect of being pushed into the line of fire but also due to their material conditions. There have already been complaints about supply problems, lack of medicine and even deficiencies in equipment. The flood of mobilized soldiers, 300,000, has made the reserves of uniforms disappear and it is even difficult to find supplies in military clothing stores. Soldiers are going into battle in fisherman’s camouflage as Putin proclaims from the Kremlin that the annexed regions will never be returned to kyiv.
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