By Oyintari Ben
A close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin called for the potential deployment of low-grade nuclear weapons after Ukrainian troops claimed to have retaken the strategic bastion of Lyman in occupied eastern Ukraine.
The recapture on Saturday occurred just one day after Putin declared the annexation of nearly a quarter of Ukraine, including Donetsk, where Lyman is located, and placed the areas under Russia’s nuclear watch. Kyiv and the West derided the elaborate ceremony as an unconstitutional charade.
In a social media video taken in front of the town council building in the heart of Lyman, the Ukrainian military declared the capture.
One of the troops’ states, “Dear Ukrainians, today the armed forces of Ukraine… liberated and gained control of the settlement of Lyman, Donetsk region.”
At the conclusion of the clip, a group of troops raised the Ukrainian flag in their position while cheering and hurling Russian flags off the roof of the structure.
More swift victories in the Donbas, which includes the predominantly Russian-controlled Donetsk and Luhansk areas, were promised by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“Ukrainian flags have become more prevalent in Donbas during the previous week. In a week, there would be even more,” he promised in a video address that night.
In a statement released early on Sunday, the Ukrainian military claimed that in the last 24 hours, its jets had carried out 29 strikes, destroying weapons and anti-aircraft missile systems, while ground forces had struck command posts, ammunition warehouses, and anti-aircraft missile complexes.
According to US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Lyman’s capture would cause the Russian military new issues. Austin stated at a news conference on Saturday that “what we’re seeing right now is quite encouraging.”
Lyman was positioned across supply lines that Russia has used to transport its troops and equipment down to the south and the west as the Kremlin presses its more than seven-month-long invasion of Ukraine, according to Austin.
“It will be harder without those routes. Therefore, from now on, it creates a challenge for the Russians.”
