News
By yesterday midnight, the Armed Forces of Ukraine completed the envelopment of the Russian grouping in Lyman, including BARS detachments, forces of the 20th Combined Arms Army, units of the “People’s Militia of the LPR and DPR”, and Cossack groups. In the north, they have retaken Stavky and are fighting in Zarichny; the road connecting Lyman and Torske is under heavy enemy fire. Yampil is being stormed in the south.
Russian military bloggers and correspondents confirm these reports. The American Institute for the Study of War also reports the encirclement. “Ukrainian troops are attacking Lyman from three directions and have cut Russian access to the critical Svatove-Lyman road, which is the major ground line of communication (GLOC) sustaining the Russian grouping within Lyman itself,” the ISW's summary says.
The battle of Lyman is important because its encirclement opens the road to the “LPR”. Retaking Lyman will also grant the AFU access to Svatove, and then to Kreminna and Rubizhne. The exact location of the new frontline remains unclear. Ukrainian troops have spent several weeks cutting off Lyman from two sides. There was only one road connecting the Russian troops in Lyman through Torske to Svatove, where they had munitions and reinforcements. Torske has been taken, and so has Drobysheve on the other side of the road. The connection has been cut off.
Unless the Russian military command takes decisive action within the next 24 hours, Lyman will repeat the fate of Balakliya. Should the Russian troops in the city be eliminated, Russia will lose its entire defense potential on this segment of the frontline.