Despite Russian annexations, Ukraine continues its reconquest

The annexations of Moscow do not stop the Ukrainian counter-offensive. The day after an inflamed Vladimir Putin formalized the attachment of four regions of the country to Russia, Ukraine claims to have succeeded in “surrounding” several thousand Russian soldiers in Lyman, a strategic town in the Donetsk region. , in one of the four annexed areas.

According to a spokesman for the Ukrainian army in the east, “about 5,000-5,500 Russians” had been entrenched in and around Lyman in recent days. For Serguiï Gaïdaï, the governor of the neighboring region of Lugansk, these soldiers now have “three options: to flee, to die all together or to surrender. On Friday, a senior pro-Russian separatist official acknowledged that the Russians present in Lyman were fighting there “at the end of their tether”, facing a “difficult” situation.

A potential key victory for Kyiv

The capture of Lyman would be a key victory for kyiv, along with the conquest of this important railway junction. Friday evening, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the “significant results” of the counter-offensive of his troops in the East, pushing the Russians to withdraw from many conquered territories.

But, in its retreat, the Russian army is committing abuses against civilians, accuses kyiv. At least 20 civilians were found shot dead in a car convoy to Kupiansk, in the Kharkiv region. “The (Russian) occupiers attacked these civilians who were trying to escape the bombardments,” said regional governor Oleg Synegoubov. An AFP team on the spot confirmed having also seen an attack carried out against civilians on this road abandoned by the Russians in their withdrawal from the region last week.

The director of the Zaporizhia power plant arrested

The place where the dozen civilians were found is at a place where fighting between Ukrainians and Russians took place recently. Faced with significant military difficulties, the Russian soldiers retreated further east, across the Oskil River, but the Ukrainians have since managed to cross it, marking a major success for kyiv.

Russia also arrested Igor Murachov, the director general of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, located under Russian control in southern Ukraine, on Friday, according to the Ukrainian nuclear operator Energoatom. A “Russian patrol” extracted him from his car and “drove, blindfolded, to an unknown destination” for an as yet unknown reason, said Petro Kotin, the boss of Energoatom. An “illegal detention” condemned by kyiv on Saturday.

Quick application for NATO membership

Ukraine is also continuing its diplomatic offensive. She announced to seize the International Court of Justice, “urging it to seize the file as soon as possible” of the Russian annexations. Facing the rain of international condemnations, Moscow vetoed a UN Security Council resolution condemning these “pseudo-annexations”, which received 10 votes in favor (four countries abstained: China, India, Brazil and Gabon).

At the same time, Volodymyr Zelensky announced that he would “sign Ukraine’s candidacy for accelerated NATO membership”, a decision supported by the United States and Canada. “We strongly support the entry into NATO of countries which wish to join and which can contribute their capabilities”, declared the American Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

But Ukraine’s entry into the Atlantic Alliance would take a long time and is impossible in the current state of the statutes, because of the armed conflict which is currently continuing on its soil.