Russian losses evident in key liberated Ukrainian city

The bodies of Russian soldiers were lying in the streets of a key eastern Ukrainian city on Tuesday following their comrades’ retreat that marked the latest defeat for Moscow even as Russia’s upper house of parliament rubber-stamped the annexation of Ukrainian regions on Tuesday, AP reported.

Russian troops pulled back from Lyman over the weekend to avoid being encircled by Ukrainian forces. The city’s liberation gave Ukraine a key vantage point for pressing its offensive deeper into Russian-held territories.

The Ukrainian military collected the bodies of their comrades after fierce battles for control of Lyman, a key logistics and transport hub, but did not immediately remove those of the Russians.

“We fight for our land, for our children, so that our people can live better, but all this comes at a very high price,” said a Ukrainian soldier who goes by the nom de guerre Rud.

Lyman residents emerged from basements where they had hidden during the battle for control of the city and built bonfires for cooking. The city has had no water, electricity or gas since May.

A 85-year-old, who identified herself by her name and patronymic, Valentyna Kuzmichna, recalled a recent explosion nearby.

“I was standing in the hall, about 5 meters away, when it boomed,” she said. “God forbid, now I can’t hear well.”

The Russian forces launched more missile strikes at Ukrainian cities on Tuesday as Ukrainian forces pressed their counteroffensives in the east and the south.

Several missiles hit Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv, damaging its infrastructure and causing power cuts. Kharkiv Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said one person was killed and at least two others, including a 9-year-old girl, were wounded.

In the south, four civilians were injured when Russian missiles struck the city of Nikopol.

After reclaiming control of Lyman in the Donetsk region, the Ukrainian forces pushed further east and may have gone as far as the border of the neighboring Luhansk region as they advance toward Kreminna, the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said in its latest analysis of the combat situation.

On Monday, Ukrainian forces also scored significant gains in the south, raising flags over the villages of Arkhanhelske, Myroliubivka, Khreshchenivka, Mykhalivka and Novovorontsovka.