Thousands of Russians could have been taken prisoner of war or died: a day after the Kremlin chief's annexation speech, the Ukrainian flag flies again over the Lyman junction in Donetsk. While Putin's vassal Kadyrov berated his own army for withdrawing and called for nuclear strikes, Ambassador Melnyk was demanding heavy equipment from the West. The 220th day of the war at a glance.
Defense Ministry in Moscow admits deduction
Russia has abandoned the strategically important city of Lyman in the eastern Donetsk region in yet another defeat by the Ukrainian army. The armed forces had been withdrawn because of the risk of encirclement, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in Moscow. Ukrainian authorities had previously spoken of around 5,000 surrounded Russian soldiers.
For weeks Lyman had been fought bitterly. After the defeat in the north-eastern Ukrainian region of Kharkiv and their withdrawal from there, Russian troops tried to build a new front line along the Oskil and Siverskyi Donets rivers. After intense fighting, the city fell in the afternoon: Ukrainian units hoisted the blue and yellow national flag in Lyman.
It is unclear how many Russians have been taken prisoner
Previously, the Ukrainians had taken the city in the pliers. Attacks were launched from the west as well as from the north and south. The Russians' only supply and retreat link to the east via Zarichne and Torske came under fire from the Ukrainian artillery. Under these circumstances, it is unclear how many Russian soldiers died or were taken prisoner. The Ukrainian head of administration for Luhansk, Serhiy Hajdaj, announced in the morning that the occupiers had asked their leadership for an order to withdraw, "whereupon they were rebuffed". Hajdaj said there had never been such a number of encircled Russians in the war.
Defeat shortly after annexation
After the Russian defeat in Kharkiv, Lyman was considered so important that the Russian leadership wanted to hold the city for as long as possible, at least until the declaration of the annexation of the four Ukrainian regions of Cherson, Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhia. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the annexation at a ceremony in the Kremlin on Friday. No state recognizes this breach of international law. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had announced that all occupied territories would be liberated. To do this, he relies on heavy weapons from the West and on military advisors from the NATO countries.
With the fall of Lyman, the path to Kreminna and Svatowe opened up for the Ukrainian troops. Both cities are located in the Luhansk region and - especially Swatowe - are considered important transport hubs. This would be a devastating signal for the Kremlin. At the beginning of the summer, the Russian army declared the Luhansk region "liberated".
Kadyrov wants to depose the general responsible
On the Russian side, the renewed defeat caused bitter comments: On his Telegram channel, Chechen ruler Ramzan Kadyrov demanded that Colonel-General Alexander Lapin, who was responsible for the front section, be deposed, demoted and sent to the front as a simple soldier. The problems in Lyman were reported two weeks ago. "A week later, Lapin transfers his staff to Starobilsk, more than 100 kilometers from his subordinates, and slips away to Luhansk himself. How can you command your units operationally when you are 150 kilometers away," Kadyrov said indignantly. The Russian political scientist Abbas Galliamov, who is critical of the Kremlin, explained smugly: "Yesterday they connected Lyman to Russia "forever" in order to evacuate the city today".
Explosions at military airport in Crimea
There were apparently another explosion at a military airport on the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which was annexed by Russia. "According to information from the emergency services, a plane overshot the runway and caught fire," Moscow-appointed Sevastopol governor Mikhail Rasvozhayev wrote on Telegram. The fire brigade is on duty. However, videos circulating on social networks showed thick clouds of smoke with strong explosions. Observers suspected that an ammunition store could have caught fire.
The Ukrainian military has already struck several times at Russian Air Force bases on the peninsula. In August, for example, the military airport near Saki in Crimea was attacked. The Belbek military airport near Sevastopol is considered one of the most important for the Russian military.
Melnyk sees Ukraine on the road to victory
The outgoing Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Andriy Melnyk, sees the Ukrainian troops continuing to advance. He told the "Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland" (RND): "The liberation of Lyman - after the successful Kharkiv counter-offensive - is further evidence that Ukraine will win this war militarily. Russia has no chance of keeping the occupied territories under its control to keep forever." Melnyk also appealed to Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the federal government to "finally equip Ukraine with all available heavy weapons, above all to give up the blockade of Leopard deliveries". He told the RND: "It would now be a fatal mistake if the federal government went into shock because of Putin's threats with nuclear weapons."
France supplies Caesar howitzers
According to a newspaper, France could deliver between six and twelve more "Caesar" type howitzers to Ukraine. These were originally intended for Denmark, the newspaper "Le Monde" reported. The three states had agreed in principle on the changed delivery, but the talks have not been completed. France has already delivered 18 of the howitzers to Ukraine, which come from the French company Nexter.
Italy does not get gas from Russia "today".
According to the Italian supplier Eni, Russia stopped supplying gas to Italy. The Russian company Gazprom has announced that it can no longer deliver gas through Austria "for today", Eni said. Russian gas normally arrives at and is distributed from the Italian-Austrian border town of Tarvisio in Italy. However, according to information from Eni, the Alpine republic continues to receive Russian gas, says an Eni spokesman. By the time war broke out in Ukraine, Italy had received around 40 percent of its gas from Russia.
No more gas is leaking from Nord Stream 2
According to the operating company, no more gas is escaping from the leak in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. This was announced by spokesman Ulrich Lissek. This could mean that either the line is now completely empty or the pressure in the gas line has dropped to the same level as the water pressure.
More texts on the Ukraine war:
You can read all further developments in our live ticker.
