Russia said on Saturday that its forces had full control of the Ukrainian city of Lyman, a railway hub in the Donetsk region, in a gain that would help set the stage for the next phase of the Kremlin’s offensive in the Donetsk region. Eastern Donbas.
Ukrainian and Russian forces had been fighting for Lyman for several days. The city is located 40 km (30 miles) west of Severodonetsk, the largest city in Donbas that still has Ukraine, but now under heavy assault by Russian forces.
The governor of the Lugansk region, which together with Donetsk forms the Donbas, said on Friday that Russian troops had entered Severodonetsk.
Russian gains indicate a shift in momentum in the war.
Although Russian troops have failed to capture the capital Kyiv in the early stages of the conflict, they are making slow but steady advances in the Donbas, much of which was already controlled by pre-war Moscow-backed separatists.