Ukraine admits heavy defeat in Donbass
President Zelensky’s top adviser admits the loss of Liman, a major stronghold of Ukraine in Donbass.
Army Russia took over the city of Liman in northern Donetsk, Kiev authorities revealed on the evening of May 26. RT reports that Ukrainian forces are said to have retreated to the west-southwest, towards Slavyansk.
“We have lost the city of Liman,” Alexey Arestovich, the main adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, admitted during a live stream on the evening of May 26.
Although Arestovich cites “unconfirmed reports,” Russian military reporter Alexander Kots posted a video of Russian troops in the city shortly after with the caption “Liman is ours.” Kots added that the Ukrainian army “escaped” to the west and southwest, retreating while firing artillery fire.
The assault on Liman lasted less than a week, and Russian forces entered the city on May 23. There are some unconfirmed reports on Telegram channels that up to 500 Ukrainian troops have surrendered.
By May 25, three-quarters of Liman was believed to be under Russian control, with the remaining Ukrainian troops believed to be fortifying the industrial area on the southwestern edge of the city.
However, a video posted on TikTok on May 25 showed a group of Ukrainian soldiers clinging to an armored vehicle speeding out of town, amid shelling.
Liman was one of the first cities in the region Donetsk was taken over by militias opposed to the government in Kiev after the 2014 Maidan coup. Ukrainian forces recaptured Liman in early June of the same year, thereby besieging Slavyansk, where separatists had been fighting. hold on for the next month.
News of Ukraine’s defeat in Liman comes as Russian forces advance from Popasnaya, threatening to completely encircle thousands of troops loyal to Kiev in the Severodonetsk-Lisichansk region.
Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine at the end of February, after accusing Kiev of failing to fulfill the terms of the Minsk agreement, first signed in 2014 and eventually Moscow’s recognition of the republics Donbass self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk. The Minsk agreement brokered by Germany and France was designed to give the breakaway regions special status in Ukraine.
The Kremlin has since demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country and will never join the military bloc. NATO led by the US. Kiev insists the Russian attack is completely unprovoked and rejects claims it is planning to retake the two republics in the Donbass by force.
at Blogtuan.info – Source: laodong.vn – Read the original article here