The Ukrainian army enters the town of Lyman after the withdrawal of Russian forces
On Saturday, the Ukrainian army entered the strategic town of Lyman in eastern Ukraine, located in the Donetsk region, whose annexation the previous day by Moscow sparked a storm of international condemnation and rejection by Kyiv, which is determined to restore its lands.
Kyiv also condemned the "unlawful detention" of the Director General of the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia (south), Igor Murashov, who was arrested by Russia, which occupies the site, for a reason that is still unknown Friday.
"Ukrainian air assault forces enter Lyman, Donetsk region," the Ukrainian Defense Ministry wrote on Twitter in the afternoon.
The tweet was accompanied by a one-minute video showing two Ukrainian soldiers waving and then hanging the blue and yellow national flag next to a sign reading "Lyman" at the entrance to the city.
“We raise our national flag and erect it on our land,” one of the soldiers said with a smile.
Lyman will always be part of Ukraine.”
"After threatening to encircle, allied forces were withdrawn from Lyman to more convenient lines," the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Shortly before that, the Ukrainian army said it was "encircling" thousands of Russian soldiers in this town in the Donetsk region annexed by Russia on Friday.
A Ukrainian military spokesman said "about 5,000 or 5,500 Russians" had holed up in and around Lyman in recent days.
The complete capture of Lyman constitutes a major victory for Kiev, as it is an important railroad junction in eastern Ukraine.
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