Reporting from Ukraine
I am a Ukrainian. My country has been invaded by Russia. In this video I will tell you what happened on the two hundred and seventeenth day of the war.
Day 217: September 28
Ukrainian offensive operation in Lyman continues to develop rapidly. Today the Ukrainians have already established complete fire control over the most important roads that the Russians used to supply and reinforce Lyman and Yampil. The situation became very critical because, simultaneously with the expansion in the north, the Ukrainians finally launched their attack from the south. Judging by what is happening right now, in 2-3 days, the Ukrainians will completely cut off Russian forces from the mainland and create a more than 10 km buffer zone between the surrounded and the mainland. The Russians in Lyman are doomed unless they decide to retreat or the situation develops in an unforeseen way.
Two days ago, the Ukrainians took control over Ridkodub and Nove, while Russian forces, fearing being surrounded, have been leaving Pisky and Malivka. Today the Ukrainians established complete control over Pisky, although some sources suggest they are still clearing this town. Some sources also suggest that the Ukrainians continued to push the Russians to the north and are already near Borova. Since the front line in this particular region is collapsing, the main job of the Ukrainians is just to ensure that the Russians do not have enough time to establish new defense lines. That is why many scout groups operate in this region, creating an extensive grey zone. In this grey zone, they are sporadically attacking the settlements under Russian control, but more importantly, they limit the movement between these settlements. This means that the Russians can neither supply nor reinforce them in fear of their convoys being ambushed, so these small settlements between Pisky and Borova remain very vulnerable, with no reinforcement and with no ability to repel a big attack. From here, the Ukrainians will try to pierce the front line in the middle to create another cauldron (this time for Borova) and force the Russians to retreat once again because if the Russians have troubles reinforcing Lyman, then there is no chance they will help the ones stuck in Borova.
When it comes to the eastward expansion, here the Ukrainians have achieved massive success. They managed to establish full control over Novoselivka, and they also, at least for some time, pushed the Russians out of Shandryholove. Some sources say that the Russians managed to take it back together with Karpivka, but I find it unconvincing. Ukrainian forces that took Ridkodub moved east and south and took Katerynivka, Zelena Dolyna, and the latest news suggests that they even entered Kolodyazi. If this is true, then the northern connection is now completely cut off, and the Russians can rely only on the road to Zarichne, which is what they used anyway. However, recent news suggests that even this road cannot be used safely anymore and here is why.
After creating so much trouble to the north of Lyman and stretching the front line, the Russians obviously allocated more forces to try to stabilize this region. Due to the overall lack of forces, this weakened defense around Zarichne, and I do not mean that they relocated their forces from Zarichne, I mean that the general ability to reinforce this region decreased. And it seems like the Ukrainians bet that it is enough because today, they finally launched their attacks in the direction of Yampil and Zarichne. The fact that the Ukrainians operate so deep into the region clearly indicates that they control the forest. Some Russian sources also raise the alarm about this situation because the Ukrainians have reportedly established many pontoon crossings that allow them to relocate heavy machinery like tanks.
Overall, if the Ukrainians indeed entered Kolodiazi, then they can already attack Zarichne from two sides, which indicates that the Lyman group is in the operational encirclement, meaning has no way to get out of the region without severe losses.
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