Advance in Kherson – After Lyman: Now Putin is Threatened with the Next Disaster

On Monday evening, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi announced further successes of his army in a video message.

According to him, the Kiev military forces, after the city of Lyman, also took control of large areas of the Kherson region. This is the area around Arkhanhelske and Myrolyubiwka, Zelensky said. Observers suspect another pincer attack on thousands of Russian soldiers stationed there.

Is the Russian defense line about to collapse?
Social media even talks about the liberation of other villages in the region. According to unconfirmed reports, Russian troops have withdrawn to the town of Dudchany. It is rumored that because of the rapid advance of the Ukrainians, the Russian defense line in northern Kherson is about to collapse.

20,000 Russians are trapped
According to official reports, up to 20,000 Russian soldiers are trapped west of the Dnieper River in the regional capital Kherson in southern Ukraine. The bombing of at least three bridges over the river has made it difficult to supply them since late summer. On Monday, the Russian occupiers also reported numerous attempts by Ukraine to breach the front lines from the Zaporizhzhya, Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

About seven months after the war started, Putin annexed Ukraine’s Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions in addition to Donetsk. The annexation of the regions, parts of which Russia has not even conquered, in violation of international law, is not recognized internationally.

Zelenskyj: “Annexions pointless”
Given his army’s recent successes in retaking previously occupied territories, Zelensky described Russia’s annexations as futile. “Once the Ukrainian flag has returned, no one will remember the Russian farce with papers and possible annexations.”

How hard is Russia defeat at Lyman?
Military analyst Yigal Levin already believes Ukraine’s victory at Lyman could be the beginning of the end for the Russian front in this part of eastern Ukraine. The former Israeli army officer is one of the best-known military bloggers in Ukraine. “With the capture of the city of Lyman by the Ukrainian army, they were able to advance further into the Russian-occupied region of Luhansk. That opens the door to Seyerodonetsk and Lysychansk,” Yigal Levin said in an interview with Deutsche Welle.

Putin’s popularity in Russia is declining
Meanwhile, Putin’s popularity in Russia is declining. The reason for this, according to British investigative journalist Catherine Belton, is the partial mobilization that the Russian president “actually did not want”. The author and Russia expert explained in an APA interview that at the beginning of the war in Ukraine mainly the ethnic minorities of the vast empire were deployed, but now young Russians are also being recruited.

Britons speak of 40,000 Russians already killed
According to the author of the bestseller “Putin’s Net”, most Russians are only willing to go to war. However, they are often poorly educated and not as motivated as their opponents, the Ukrainians, who are fighting for their country’s freedom. Because the lives of many Russians are now threatened, the resistance is growing rapidly. Belton spoke of up to 40,000 Russians killed – she referred to information from the British Foreign Office.

Separatist leader hopes for reversal through partial mobilization
On the other hand, separatist leader Denis Puschilin in Donetsk was confident on state television on Monday that the situation at the front would develop in favor of the occupying forces. The partial mobilization will bring new personnel and new technology to the combat areas, he said. “Therefore, the picture of what is happening at the front will change. In a positive way,” Puschilin said after numerous defeats by the Russian army. There are already successes in the Bachmut area, said Puschilin.