San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Ukraine drives Russian troops out of key city
KYIV, Ukraine — After being encircled by Ukrainian forces, Russia pulled troops out Saturday from an eastern Ukrainian city that it had been using as a front-line hub. It was the latest victory for the Ukrainian counteroffensive that has humiliated and angered the Kremlin.
Russia’s withdrawal from Lyman complicates its globally vilified move to annex four regions of Ukraine and paves the way for Ukrainian troops to potentially push farther into land that Moscow illegally claims as its own.
The fighting comes at a pivotal moment in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war. Facing Ukrainian gains on the battlefield — which he frames as a U.S. orchestrated effort to destroy Russia — Putin last week heightened his threats of nuclear force and used his most aggressive, anti-Western rhetoric to date.
Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed to have inflicted damage on Ukrainian forces in battling to hold onto Lyman, but said outnumbered Russian troops were withdrawn to more favorable positions. The Russian announcement came soon after Ukraine’s air force said it had moved into the city.
Lyman, a key transport hub, had been an important node in the Russian front line for both ground communications and logistics. Located 100 miles southeast of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, Lyman is in the Donetsk region near the border with the Luhansk region, both of which Russia annexed Friday after a local “referendum” was held at gunpoint.
Ukrainian forces have retaken vast swathes of territory in a counteroffensive that started in September. They have pushed Russian forces out of the Kharkiv area and moved east across the Oskil River.
Meanwhile, Russian bombardments have intensified in recent days as Moscow moved swiftly with the annexation and ordered a mass mobilization at home to bolster its forces. The Russian call-up has proven unpopular at home, prompting thousands of Russian men to flee the country.
Ukrainian authorities accused Russian forces of targeting two humanitarian convoys in recent
days, killing dozens of civilians. In the south, Ukraine’s nuclear power provider said Saturday that Russian forces blindfolded and detained the head of Europe’s largest nuclear plant. The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant repeatedly has been caught in the crossfire of the war.
Despite Putin’s land-grab Friday of four regions, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his military have vowed to keep on fighting to liberate the annexed regions and other Russian-occupied areas.