Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed - Sunday - that his country's army has recaptured other areas after the town of Lyman, while Russia announced that it had thwarted a Ukrainian attack in Mykolaiv and the killing of hundreds of soldiers.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that the success of his country's soldiers is not limited to retaking the town of Lyman in the east of the country.
"The story of the liberation of Lyman in the Donetsk region is now the most popular in the media," he added in his evening address.
Zelensky stressed that the Ukrainian forces had recaptured the small towns of Arkhanhelsky and Mirolyubivka in the Kherson region, thanking specific units of the Ukrainian forces that performed outstandingly on the front line.
On the other hand, Zelensky denounced the kidnapping of the General Director of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant Ihor Murashov, saying, "This is another example of a clear Russian act of terrorism, for which the terrorist state should be increasingly punished."
The state company responsible for the station had said on Saturday that a Russian patrol had detained Morashov, and the International Atomic Energy Agency said that Russia had confirmed this step.
And the Ukrainian army said - in its evening statement on Sunday - that its forces repelled the Russian advance in several areas, especially in the Donetsk region near Bakhmut and Spirn near Lyschansk, which is a major center in the neighboring Lugansk region.
Russian novel
On the other hand, the Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday that it would withdraw its forces from the Lyman region "due to a threat related to its siege."
The ministry did not mention Lyman in its daily update of the fighting in Ukraine on Sunday, but said that Russian forces destroyed 7 artillery and missile weapons depots in the Ukrainian regions of Kharkiv, Zaporozhye, Mykolaiv and Donetsk.
The Russian Defense Ministry also announced that it had thwarted an attack by Ukrainian forces in Mykolaiv and Kryvyi Rih, and said that it had killed 300 Ukrainian soldiers and foreign advisers, in bombing the positions of Ukrainian forces.
strategic progress
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Ukraine's recapture of Lyman shows that it can defeat Russian forces, as well as the impact of Ukraine's deployment of advanced Western weapons on the conflict.
And he added - in an interview with "NBC" (NBC) - that "the allies are intensifying their support for Ukraine, and this is the best way to ensure that Ukraine is indeed able to liberate and restore the occupied territories."
The British Ministry of Defense said that Lyman's importance to operations was due to its control of a major road crossing the Seversky Donets River, behind which Russia is trying to strengthen its defenses.
The ministry added that Russia likely suffered heavy losses during the withdrawal, as a Ukrainian military spokesman confirmed that Russia had between 5,000 and 5,500 soldiers in the city before the Ukrainian attack.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he expected Kyiv to continue to advance on the ground, stressing his country's support for Ukraine's attempts to regain all of its territory.
Austin added - in an interview with "CNN" - that the fighting in Kherson, southern Ukraine, is progressing slowly, but the Ukrainian army is making progress.
Meanwhile, the White House said that US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met Ukraine's Presidential Office chief Andriy Yermak in Istanbul, and pledged Washington's unwavering support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
For his part, Yermak said, "We asked the US National Security Adviser to increase military aid and expedite its delivery."
european meeting
On the other hand, the leaders of the European Union countries are preparing to meet with their counterparts from outside the bloc on Thursday and Friday in Prague, to discuss ways to respond to the tragic repercussions of the Russian war in Ukraine, according to what the President of the European Council Charles Michel announced.
"The goal is to bring together leaders on an equal footing, to strengthen political dialogue and cooperation on issues of common interest, so that we work together to promote security, stability and prosperity in all of Europe," Michel explained.
The leaders will discuss the Russian war in Ukraine, energy and economic situation, as well as the continued provision of economic, military and political support to Ukraine, according to Michal.