Putin feels the heat in Ukraine’s Donbas region

Russian troops are on the brink of losing a key position in the Donetsk which the Kremlin will soon claim is part of Russia.

Ukrainian servicemen cross the destroyed bridge over the Oskil River in Kupiansk, in the Kharvik region on Thursday. Picture: AFP

Moscow is rushing to lock in its territorial claims before the Ukrainian army seizes more territory.

President Vladimir Putin’s troops are on the brink of losing a key position in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, which the Kremlin will soon claim is part of Russia.

The town of Lyman is a large railway junction that serves as an important supply hub between the Russian border and invading troops to the south.

After it was captured by the Russians in May, it was used as a launch pad for an assault on the regional strongholds of Slovyansk and Kramatorsk.

When it falls – which could happen in the next 48 hours – the Russians will probably have to abandon their heavy equipment to escape across a series of reservoirs.

Ukrainian troops should also be able to push further into the wider Donbas area to try to take back cities that are key to Putin’s war aims, such as Severodonetsk, the scene of weeks of fierce fighting.

“Lyman is a big moment because the Russians intended that to be their stepping stone to take the rest of the Donbas. When the Russians lose Lyman they lose their main artery to supply their troops easily from Belgorod through to the south,” Professor Michael Clarke, a security and defence analyst, said.

General Sir Richard Barrons, former head of the British forces command, said recapturing Lyman would further undermine Putin’s credibility when it comes to annexation.

“They are taking back territory that Russia is about to announce is in Russia,” he said.

The loss of Lyman would further weaken Russian morale and could drive a wedge between soldiers and their superiors.

The Donbas, an important mining region in the east, where Lyman is situated, has been the site of fighting since 2014, when it was partially captured by a hybrid force of Russian troops without insignia, mercenaries and Kremlin-backed separatists.

Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said this week that, after the referendums held in occupied territories, Russia would view an attack on the Donbas as an attack on Russia itself.

The Times