Russia is facing a “significant political setback” after its troops pulled out of the town of Lyman in eastern Ukraine to avoid being surrounded, UK intelligence chiefs have said.
Ukrainian forces won a major battlefield victory after Russian troops were forced to withdraw from the key eastern city on Saturday.
Russia’s defence ministry announced that its troops had withdrawn "to more advantageous lines" to avoid encirclement in Lyman, which had been a logistics and transport hub for Russian forces in the occupied Donbas region.
It claimed, without evidence, that it had inflicted heavy casualties on advancing Ukrainian forces by launching "massive fire strikes" against them.
But it also admitted that Ukraine had gained the upper hand. "Despite the losses suffered, the enemy, having a significant superiority in forces and means, introduced reserves and continued the offensive," it said.
As of 9.30am on Sunday, Volodymyr Zelensky said the city is “fully cleared” following the counteroffensive.
The British Ministry of Defence (MoD) said that Russian forces “probably experienced heavy casualties” during the assault.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 2 October 2022
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) October 2, 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/UByep7EnYS
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In a briefing released on Sunday morning, the MoD said: “Operationally, Lyman is important because it commands a key road crossing over the Siversky Donets River, behind which Russia has been attempting to consolidate its defences.
“Russia’s withdrawal from Lyman also represents a significant political setback given that it is located within Donetsk Oblast, a region Russia supposedly aimed to ‘liberate’ and has attempted to illegally annex.”
It adds that the withdrawal has led to “a further wave of public criticism of Russia’s military leadership by senior officials”.
“Further losses of territory in illegally occupied territories will almost certainly lead to an intensification of this public criticism and increase the pressure on senior commanders”, they said.
Kyiv’s capture of Lyman it came a day after President Vladimir Putin confirmed the annexation of four Ukrainian regions - Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.
In tandem with taking of Lyman, an explosion has rocked a Russian airbase in the Crimea.
Although the cause of the blast has not yet been established, Russian officials claimed it was caused by a munitions explosion detonated on a miliatry plane.
There were no immediate reports of any casualties but video footage on social media showed tourists look on from the popular Russian holiday destination as smoke billowed into the sky.
Due to the latest military setback, Ramzan Kadyrov, head of Russia’s region of Chechnya, has insisted that the Kremlin should consider using a low-yield nuclear weapon in Ukraine.
As Russia confirmed the loss of its stronghold of Lyman in eastern Ukraine, Mr Kadyrov slammed top commanders for their failings and wrote on Telegram: “In my personal opinion, more drastic measures should be taken, right up to the declaration of martial law in the border areas and the use of low-yield nuclear weapons.”
