Putin told of Russian "breakthrough" into Lyman, Ukrainian forces call claim untrue
Valery Gerasimov, Chief of Russia's General Staff, has reported to Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin about a Russian breakthrough into Lyman in Donetsk Oblast, but Ukraine's 3rd Army Corps denies this claim and stresses that Ukrainian forces are holding the line in the city.
Source: 3rd Army Corps
Details: On 1 December, Gerasimov listed the advance of assault units from the Zapad (West) grouping towards Lyman as one of the latest supposed "successes" of Russian forces.
In response, Brigadier General Andrii Biletskyi, Commander of the 3rd Army Corps, said that the 60th and 63rd Separate Mechanised Brigades repel around 40 Russian assaults every day on the approaches to the city, preventing Russian forces from breaking through the defence or entering Lyman.
Quote: "Officially: the so-called Russian 'breakthrough' in Lyman is a lie by the senior command of the Russian army!"
Details: The Corps added that small Russian infantry groups mounted at least 10 attempts to infiltrate the outskirts of Lyman over the past month, but all these attempts were thwarted: the assault groups were either wiped out or their members captured.
The Ukrainian military also released a video of a captured Russian soldier "thanking" a Russian military blogger for revealing their positions on Telegram, which enabled Ukraine's defence forces to locate the group, wipe out part of it and take the soldier prisoner.
Colonel Pavlo Yurchuk, Commander of the 63rd Brigade, noted that Gerasimov is painting a fictional picture of successes for Putin.
"For four years, Gerasimov has burned through his army without taking full control of a single Ukrainian oblast," Yurchuk said. "So while our units suppress any Russian attempt to approach Lyman at the outset, he reports to Putin about successes that do not exist."
The 3rd Army Corps points out that claims of a Russian breakthrough into Lyman is pure invention by the Russian command and that Ukrainian forces are holding their line.
Background: Ukraine's General Staff reported that a total of 201 combat clashes had occurred on the battlefield over the past day, with Ukrainian defenders repelling 52 Russian attacks on the Pokrovsk front. The Russians had also conducted more than 30 attacks on the Lyman front and 27 attacks on the Kostiantynivka front.
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