Russian Invasion of Ukraine - Russian Forces Retreat From Lyman

KYIV — Less than 24 hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin proudly proclaimed the illegal annexation of Ukraine’s Donetsk region, thousands of his troops appear to be withdrawing from a strategic town there under Ukrainian fire.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Saturday that its troops were withdrawing from the town of Lyman in eastern Ukraine, as Ukrainian forces surrounded it. The retreat marks a major embarrassment for Moscow, a day after it claimed swaths of eastern Ukraine as its own — in the face of widespread international condemnation. Ukrainian forces advanced on the city overnight even as Russia put on a grand ceremony and a pop concert in Moscow’s Red Square celebrating the annexation.

“In connection with the creation of a threat of encirclement, the allied troops were withdrawn” from Lyman “to more advantageous lines,” Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Saturday.

Serhiy Cherevaty, a spokesman for Ukraine’s armed forces, confirmed to The Washington Post that Ukrainian troops had entered Lyman. Despite the Kremlin statement, Cherevaty said fighting in the city was ongoing, suggesting that some Russian troops remain. Pro-Russian Telegram channels claimed Russian troops were under heavy Ukrainian attack as they tried to escape before Ukrainian forces cut off all exit routes.

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