Lyman cauldron: Ukrainian forces develop counteroffensive

UKRAINE - In Brief 28 Sep 2022 by Dmytro Boyarchuk

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The Ukrainian army broke the front on the east bank of the Oskil River and took Lyman in an operational circle. After a hasty withdrawal from Izyum, Russians entrenched themselves in Lyman and tried to make a stronghold in this town. Russian forces made an attempt to stabilize the front across the Oskil River, taking positions on the eastern bank. However, already last week Ukrainian forces successfully crossed Oskil to the north of Lyman and developed a counter-offensive deep in the occupied territory. Also from the south Ukrainian forces crossed Siversky Donets River and approached the town of Kreminna. As a consequence, Lyman was taken under operational encirclement despite Russian forces' having been desperately trying to keep this piece of land. Most likely, Russians will withdraw from Lyman over the coming days or else the forces in the town will be totally cut off from supplies. Remarkably, we have many reports that new Russian conscripts are already replenishing the front, including in the Lyman area. But so far, this reinforcement is not helping, as we can see.