Russian officials confirmed its forces had retreated from the city of Lyman, which had previously been under its occupation.
During a recent broadcast on Russian-state TV, pundits were stunned by Ukraine’s liberation of the city of Lyman, while some expressed fears that Kyiv could order the bombing of Moscow next.
Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov of the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the retreat of Russian troops just hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared on Friday that the city, and the region of Eastern Ukraine under its control, had been annexed.
The recapture of Lyman, which is located in the Donetsk region and was being used as a transport and logistics hub, represents a major embarrassment for Putin who threw a huge celebration in the Russian capital to welcome the newly annexed territories as part of the country.
Ukraine and NATO allies do not recognize the annexation, however, and have repeatedly said the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, as well as Crimea, are territories that should be returned to Kyiv’s control.
Former Russian Foreign Deputy Minister Andrei Fedorov was one of several pundits who expressed concern over the humiliating defeat and said that Ukraine could bomb Moscow.
