Ukrainian forces will likely capture Lyman within next 72 hours, ISW says
Armed Forces of Ukraine (Photo:facebook.com/GeneralStaff)
Ukrainian forces will likely capture or encircle the town of Lyman in Donetsk Oblast within the next 72 hours, according to a Sept. 30 report from the U.S-based Institute for the Study of War.
Its analysts cited representatives of the so-called “Donetsk People’s Republic” and Russian war correspondents, who reported that Russian forces still control Lyman but have withdrawn from their positions in Drobysheve (around six kilometers northwest of Lyman) and Yampil (about 13 kilometers southeast of Lyman).
Russian sources cited by ISW claimed that Russian forces still control one road from Lyman to Torske, while Ukrainian forces have cut off the Drobysheve-Torske road in the Stavky area.
Russian sources also noted the increasing activity of Ukrainian reconnaissance and sabotage groups on the Svatove-Torske highway northeast of Lyman after they reportedly crossed the Zherebets River. Geolocated footage also showed Ukrainian artillery striking withdrawing Russian forces near Torske.
According to ISW, Ukrainian forces continued to strike Russian military targets in Luhansk Oblast on Sept. 30. It is noted that geolocated footage showed the aftermath of Ukrainian reported HIMARS strikes on a television tower and a radio repeater in Starobilsk and at an asphalt plant near Alchevsk that reportedly housed Russian forces.
Serhiy Cherevatyi, the speaker for the Eastern Regional Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said on Sept. 30 that the operation to encircle Russian troops near Lyman was “at the final stage,” and the invaders were cut off from reinforcements and supplies of ammunition.
Ukrainian soldiers have already entered the town of Yampil in Donetsk Oblast, according to a video that appeared online on Sept. 30. Later, a video appeared with Ukrainian troops in the village of Drobysheve.
Mykhailo Podolyak, the adviser to the head of the President’s Office, said Russia would have to ask Ukraine to withdraw the Russian military from the encirclement in the Lyman area if the Kremlin cares about their fate.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an evening address on Sept. 30 that Ukrainian forces had made significant progress in the east, in particular in Lyman.
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