Russian troops forced out of city in eastern Ukraine day after Putin's annexation
2 October 2022, 00:06
Russian troops have been forced out of a city in eastern Ukraine a day after Putin's annexation.
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Russian officials said they had withdrawn their troops from the once-occupied city of Lyman as Ukraine's counter-offensive gained more ground.
It came amid concerns of them being encircled by Ukraine troops, the Kremlin said.
The move followed celebrations across Moscow on Friday, intended to mark the annexation of four regions of Ukraine - including Donetsk, where the city of Lyman is located.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later said in a video address that although the Ukrainian flag was flying in the city, "fighting is still going on there".
He also indicated Ukrainian troops had taken the village of Torske, on the main road out of Lyman to the east.
Ukraine's defence ministry wrote on Twitter that "almost all" the Russian troops in Lyman had either been captured or killed.
Read more: Ageing conscripts dispatched by Putin to fight on front lines in Ukraine
Ukrainian Air Assault Forces are entering Lyman, Donetsk region. #UAarmy has and will always have the decisive vote in today's and any future "referendums". pic.twitter.com/gGIIk9rNkG
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) October 1, 2022
Russia has used Lyman as a logistics and transport hub for its operations in the Donetsk region.
Its capture would be Ukraine's biggest battlefield gain since a lightning counteroffensive in Kharkiv last month, according to Reuters.
However, it comes after at least 20 were killed in another attack on a civilian convoy in Ukraine.
The area hit was an eastern "grey zone" between Russian-controlled and Ukrainian-controlled territory.
Seven vehicles faced shelling between occupied Svatove in Luhansk region and Ukrainian-held Kupiansk, which Kyiv recaptured in the Kharkiv region last month, the SBU said in a statement.
Russian-installed officials in Ukraine's east accused Kyiv on Thursday of shelling a convoy of refugees being evacuated from the Kharkiv region and killing around 30 civilians, Russian state media reported.
