Ukraine says Russia attacks heavily to win important city

Ministry of Defense Spokesperson Ukraine Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said that Russia’s efforts to “complete control of Lyman have not been successful”.

However, photos posted on social media on May 25 show Russian troops standing in recognizable positions in the area bordering the city to the north, where Ukrainian troops have been trying to defend from. intensified attack at the end of April.

Lyman is an important rail transport hub. If Russia took control of the city, the neighboring city of Sloviansk would be vulnerable to shelling, and Ukrainian troops southeast of Lyman would be in danger of encirclement.

The Russian troops “are conducting a series of attacks, trying to encircle our units near Lysychansk, Severodonetsk and reach the administrative border of the Lugansk region,” Motuzyanyk said.

On May 24, Pavlo Kyrylenko, the head of the Donetsk region’s government, said the situation in Lyman was “very difficult”.

“That place is now under constant attack. Rivals entered Lyman land long ago. Their goal is to capture the center of Lyman. The estuary area was partially controlled, after they entered, they were pushed out again.

Artillery and tanks entered the outskirts of the city to be able to capture the center and all of Lyman,” Kyrylenko said.

In its latest assessment released on May 24, the Institute for the Study of War (in the US) said that the Russian troops continued to “prioritize the task of attacking Lyman, rather than Slovyansk, to be able to support the encirclement of troops. Ukraine is in the northwest of Severodonetsk.”

After withdrawing from the area of ​​​​the capital Kiev and the city of Kharkiv, Russia is focusing on attacking to be able to completely control the Donbass region, which has two provinces that Moscow has recognized as a people’s republic.