Russia abandons Ukrainian bastion, Putin ally suggests nuclear response

[Leroy N. Soetoro]

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-encircles-russian-forces-
around-lyman-stronghold-military-2022-10-01/

KYIV, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Russia said on Saturday its troops had abandoned a
key bastion in occupied eastern Ukraine, a stinging defeat that prompted
one of President Vladimir Putin's most hawkish allies to call for Russia
to consider resorting to low-grade nuclear weapons.

The fall of Lyman came just a day after Putin proclaimed the annexation of
four Ukrainian regions - including Donetsk, where Lyman is located - and
placed them under Russia's nuclear umbrella, at a ceremony that was
condemned by Kyiv and the West as an illegitimate farce.

"In connection with the creation of a threat of encirclement, allied
troops were withdrawn from the settlement of Krasny Liman to more
advantageous lines," Russia's defence ministry said, using the Russian
name of the town.

The statement ended hours of official silence from Moscow after Ukraine
first said it had surrounded thousands of Russian troops in the area and
then that its forces were inside the town of Lyman.

Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of the southern Chechnya region who describes
himself as a footsoldier of Putin, said he felt he had to speak out after
the loss of the territory.

"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," Kadyrov wrote on Telegram.

Other top Putin allies, including former president Dmitry Medvedev, have
suggested Russia may need to resort to nuclear weapons, but Kadyrov's call
was the most urgent and explicit.

Putin said last week he was not bluffing when he said he was prepared to
defend Russia's "territorial integrity" with all available means, and on
Friday made clear this extended to the new regions that Moscow has
claimed.

Washington says it would respond decisively to any use of nuclear weapons
and has spelled out to Moscow the "catastrophic consequences" it would
face.

"WE'RE ALREADY IN LYMAN"
The Russian defence ministry's statement made no mention of its troops
being encircled at Lyman, diverging starkly from Ukraine's version of
events.

"The Russian grouping in the area of Lyman is surrounded," Serhii
Cherevatyi, spokesperson for Ukraine's eastern forces, said hours earlier.

He said that Russia had 5,000 to 5,500 troops at Lyman but the number of
encircled troops could be lower because of casualties. He confirmed
Ukraine was inside the town later that afternoon.

"We're already in Lyman, but there are battles," he said.

Two grinning Ukrainian soldiers taped the yellow-and-blue national flag on
to the "Lyman" welcome sign at the town's entrance in Donetsk region's
north, a video posted by the president's chief of staff showed.

"Oct. 1. We're unfurling our state flag and establishing it on our land.
Lyman will be Ukraine," one of the soldiers said, standing atop a military
vehicle.

Neither side's battlefield assertions could be independently verified.

LOGISTICS HUB
In his comments, Kadyrov launched a blistering attack on Colonel-General
Alexander Lapin, the commander overseeing Lyman, who he derided as a
"mediocrity". Kadyrov also said he personally had warned Russia's army
chief, General Valery Gerasimov, of a looming disaster.

"The general assured me he had no doubts about Lapin's talent for
leadership and did not think a retreat was possible in ... Lyman and its
surroundings," he said.

Russia has used Lyman as a logistics and transport hub for its operations
in the north of the Donetsk region. Its capture is Ukraine's biggest
battlefield gain since a lightning counteroffensive in the northeastern
Kharkiv region last month.

The Ukrainian military has said its capture would allow Kyiv to advance
into the Luhansk region, whose full capture Moscow announced at the
beginning of July after weeks of slow, grinding advances.

"Lyman is important because it is the next step towards the liberation of
the Ukrainian Donbas. It is an opportunity to go further to Kreminna and
Sievierodonetsk, and it is psychologically very important," Cherevatyi
said.

Donetsk and Luhansk regions together make up the wider Donbas region that
has been a major focus for Russia since soon after the start of Moscow's
invasion on Feb. 24 in what it called a "special military operation" to
demilitarise its neighbour.

Putin proclaimed the Donbas regions of Donetsk and Luhansk and the
southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia to be Russian land in
Friday's ceremony - a swathe of territory equal to about 18% of Ukraine's
total surface land area.

Ukraine and its Western allies branded Russia's move as illegal. Kyiv
vowed to continue liberating its land of Russian forces and said it would
not hold peace talks with Moscow while Putin remained as president.

Retired U.S. General Ben Hodges, a former commander of the U.S. Army in
Europe, said a Russian defeat in Lyman after Putin's declaration would be
a major political and military embarrassment for the Russian leader.

"This puts in bright lights that his claim is illegitimate and cannot be
enforced," he said.

It remained to be seen how Ukrainian commanders would exploit the rout, he
said, adding it likely would further erode the morale of Moscow’s troops
holding other Ukrainian territory.



--
"LOCKDOWN", left-wing COVID fearmongering. 95% of COVID infections
recover with no after effects.

No collusion - Special Counsel Robert Swan Mueller III, March 2019.
Officially made Nancy Pelosi a two-time impeachment loser.

Donald J. Trump, cheated out of a second term by fraudulent "mail-in"
ballots. Report voter fraud: sf.n...@mail.house.gov

Thank you for cleaning up the disaster of the 2008-2017 Obama / Biden
fiasco, President Trump.

Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.

President Trump boosted the economy, reduced illegal invasions, appointed
dozens of judges and three SCOTUS justices.