Ukraine celebrates capturing key town of Lyman, Putin ally mulls nuclear response

The capture came just a day after Putin proclaimed the annexation of nearly a fifth of Ukraine – including Donetsk, where Lyman is located

Ramzan Kadyrov, in Russia’s southern Chechnya region, said ‘drastic measures’ should ‘include low-yield nuclear weapons’

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Ukrainian armed forces make a statement in Lyman, Ukraine, in this still image taken from a social media video on Saturday. Photo: 81 Airborne Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces/via Reuters

Published: 2:14pm, 2 Oct 2022Updated: 11:09pm, 2 Oct 2022

Ukraine said on Sunday it was in full control of the eastern logistics hub of Lyman, Kyiv’s most significant battlefield gain in weeks, which a senior official said could provide a staging post for further gains to the east.

“As of 1230 (0930 GMT), Lyman is fully cleared,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a short video clip on his Telegram channel.

There was no comment from the Russian armed forces on Sunday on the status of the city. The Russian defence ministry said on Saturday it was pulling troops out of the area “in connection with the creation of a threat of encirclement”.

Taking the key bastion of Lyman in occupied eastern Ukraine prompted a close ally of Vladimir Putin in Russia’s southern Chechnya region to call for the possible use of low-grade nuclear weapons.

The capture on Saturday came just a day after Putin proclaimed the annexation of nearly a fifth of Ukraine – including Donetsk, where Lyman is located – and placed the regions under Russia’s nuclear umbrella. Kyiv and the West condemned the ornate ceremony as an illegitimate farce.

Ukrainian soldiers announced the capture in a video recorded outside the town council building in the centre of Lyman and posted on social media by Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office.