Ukraine says it surrounded Russian troops at Lehman fortress

Kyiv, Oct 1 (Reuters) – Ukraine said on Saturday it had surrounded thousands of Russian troops around the eastern town of Lehman, on the battlefield a day after declaring the area part of Russia refuted the Kremlin.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the annexation of the Donetsk region, along with three other regions, at a ceremony in Moscow on Friday, condemned by Kyiv and the West as a farce, so the captive Lehmann was a threat to Russia. Said it would be a major setback.

A spokesman for the Eastern Ukraine’s forces said Russia had 5,000 to 5,500 troops in Lehman, but their numbers could be reduced due to casualties and failed attempts to break through.

“The Russian group in the Lehman region is under siege,” spokesman Shervati said on television.

The Russian Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Logistics President

Russia has used Lehman as a logistics and transportation hub for its operations in the northern Donetsk region. Its defeat would be Ukraine’s biggest battlefield gain since last month’s blitzkrieg in northeastern Kharkiv.

A Ukrainian military spokesman said the capture of Lehman would allow Kyiv to advance into the Luhansk region, which Moscow announced in early July after weeks of slow and difficult progress.

“Lyman is important because it is the next step in the liberation of Ukraine’s Donbass. It is an opportunity to go further into Klimina and Sivir Donetsk, which is very important psychologically,” he said.

Cherevati said operations around Lehman were still ongoing, and Russian troops were trying to break through the encirclement, but without success.

“Some people are surrendering, they have a lot of casualties, but the operation is not over,” he said.

Ukraine’s exiled governor of Luhansk said the Russian army had sought a safe passage out of the encirclement, a request Ukraine rejected.

The Ukrainian General Staff told Reuters it had no such information.

In a ceremony on Friday, Putin declared the Donbas regions of Donetsk and Luhansk and the southern regions of Kherson and Zaporozhye as Russian land – a territory equivalent to about 18 percent of Ukraine’s total land area. %.

Ukraine and its Western allies have called Russia’s move illegal. Kyiv has vowed to continue to liberate the country from Russian troops and has said there will be no peace talks with Moscow while Putin remains president.

Edited by Frances Kerry and Gareth Jones

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