On Saturday, Russia declared that its forces had complete control of the Ukrainian town of Lyman, a railway hub in the Donetsk region, paving the way for the next phase of the Kremlin’s offensive in the eastern Donbas.
For several days, Ukrainian and Russian forces had been fighting for Lyman. The town is located 40 kilometres (30 miles) west of Sievierodonetsk, the largest Donbas city still held by Ukraine but now under heavy Russian assault.
The governor of the Luhansk region, which, along with Donetsk, forms the Donbas, said on Friday that Russian troops had entered Sievierodonetsk, the main Russian offensive’s focal point.
The Russian gains indicate a shift in the war’s momentum.
Although the forces that invaded Ukraine on February 24 failed to capture the capital Kyiv in the early stages of the conflict, they are making slow but steady advances in the Donbas, which was already controlled by Moscow-backed separatists prior to the war.
The tactics have included massive artillery bombardments and air strikes that have destroyed towns and cities.
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