Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday declared that the key eastern city of Lyman is “fully cleared” of Russian forces, reported Ukrainian media portal The Kyiv Independent.Zelensky’s announcement comes a day after the Russian Defence Ministry said that Russian troops and the Donbas militias have pulled out of the city of Krasny Lyman in the Donetsk Oblast amid the emerging threat of encirclement from Ukrainian forces.
“Due to the emerging threat of encirclement, the allied troops have withdrawn from the settlement of Krasny Lyman and deployed to more advantageous positions,” Russian news outlet RT quoted the statement from the ministry.The head of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), Denis Pushilin, said that the city had been “half-encircled” by the Ukrainian troops and the situation in the city was “alarming”.The Russian military said that the Ukrainian forces lost more than 200 soldiers, five tanks, and five infantry fighting vehicles during the attack on Krasny Lyman.Despite the losses, the Ukrainian command sent in reserves and reached “considerable superiority in men and material” in the direction of the attack, RT reported.”The Russian forces in Krasny Lyman had been encircled,” a representative of the Ukrainian operational command ‘East’, Sergey Cherevaty said. He also said that the Ukrainian troops seized five settlements near Lyman, including the town of Yampol, located southeast, RT reported quoting Ukraine media.