October 4, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

The Ukrainian Armed Forces captured Lyman over the weekend — one of its biggest achievements for weeks and a setback for Moscow. Lyman is in the Donetsk region, one of the four partially-occupied territories Russia declared on Friday it would annex.  

Russia’s troops had withdrawn from the city in the face of the “threat of encirclement," the Russia's Ministry of Defense in Moscow confirmed on Telegram. By Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declared Lyman was “completely liberated” of Russian troops. 

Lyman was a logistical hub for the Russian army, who had used it to funnel troops and supplies to the west and south.

The city’s capture would complicate Russia’s battlefield operation, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters on Saturday.

Lyman could now become a staging post for the Ukrainian troops to push further east.

Since retaking the city, Ukrainian forces have moved into the neighboring Luhansk region, pro-Russian officials and propagandists alleged on Monday. “The Armed Forces of Ukraine managed to cross the administrative border of the LPR and gain a foothold in the direction of the settlement of Lysychansk,” Andrey Marochko, a military leader in the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR), wrote on Telegram. 

Kyiv’s next target may be the town of Kreminna, about 24 kilometers (15 miles) east of Lyman.

Yuriy Podolyaka, a pro-Russian journalist, military blogger and analyst, wrote on Telegram Monday that he expected “a new offensive” in that direction to “begin any day [now]."

Ukrainian forces are breaking through Russian defenses in the Kherson region as they plough on with the southern offensive, with more areas liberated “every day,” Yurii Sobolevskyi, the deputy head of the regional council, said on Ukrainian TV early Tuesday.

The Russian defense ministry confirmed Monday that “superior enemy tank units” had struck Russian defenses towards Zolota Balka, a town in Kherson that sits on the western bank of the Dnipro River, but claimed Russia was responding with “massive fire.”

CNN reported Monday that Ukrainian troops had captured Zolota Balka, citing a regional official and a pro-Russian military blogger.

Overnight, Ukrainian forces attempted to go even further, towards the village of Dudchany, some 30 kilometers (more than 18 miles) south of Zolota Balka, separatist leaders claimed on Tuesday.

The Russian-backed head of the Kherson regional administration, Vladimir Saldo, wrote on Telegram, “They managed to break through… Yesterday and this morning there were quite disturbing reports about what is happening there.” But his deputy, Kirill Stremousov, later said the advance “has now practically stopped, and now aviation and artillery are finishing off all those who broke into the sovereign territory of the Russian Federation in a fire bag," according to Russian state news agency TASS, citing a video posted on his Telegram channel. 

Russian forces appear to have withdrawn to fallback positions on that southern front, according to Igor Girkin, a pro-Russian military analyst who served in the government of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic in 2014.

The successful push in the south comes as Ukrainians celebrate crucial victories on the frontline in the east after capturing the key Donetsk city of Lyman.

The UK government has added Sergei Vladimirovich Yeliseyev to its list of sanctioned individuals.

The 51-year-old is the deputy prime minister of the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, as well as “head of the Russia-backed government in the temporarily controlled territory of Kherson,” according to the entry added to the UK government’s sanctions list on Tuesday.

Yeliseyev is “involved in destabilizing Ukraine or undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty or independence of Ukraine,” the UK government says.

Ukraine's southern Kherson region, which Russia has claimed to annex, is only partially controlled by Russian forces. The Ukrainian military has been making significant advances in that region in recent days.

Russian President Vladimir Putin can be “quite dangerous and reckless” if he is cornered, CIA Director Bill Burns told CBS in an interview.

He noted in particular that despite a pledge from China in February of a “friendship without limits,” Beijing has declined to offer military support that Putin has requested and “controlled their enthusiasm for Russia’s conduct of the war.”

Russia’s rising challenges have left Putin with fewer options, making him potentially more dangerous, Burns suggested.

“Putin cornered, Putin who feels his back is against the wall, can be quite dangerous and reckless,” Burns said.

More than 200,000 Russian citizens have arrived in Kazakhstan since Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his partial mobilization order, according to Kazakh Interior Minister Marat Akhmetzhanov.  

Out of the 200,000 arrivals, more than 147,000 have already left since Sept. 21, Akhmetzhanov told Kazakh state news agency Kazinform.  

On Monday, Akhmetzhanov said over 7,000 arrived and 11,000 left, according to Kazinform.  

He also said that 68 Russians had applied for Kazakh citizenship. 

Russian and Kazakhstan are neighbors that share a 7000 kilometer-long (4,350 miles) border. 

Residents of the Ukrainian regions illegally annexed by Russia have one month to change their citizenship, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Yevgeny Ivanov told state news agency RIA Novosti on Tuesday.

"The same as it was with Crimea. Within a month they must decide, make a choice," Ivanov said, adding that in the new territories, the issuance of documents will be accelerated.

According to the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to sign into law on Tuesday the documents on the illegal annexation of four Ukrainian regions — the self-proclaimed Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.

The signing of the laws by Putin would complete the last step of the annexation process, based on the Russian legal system. The annexation is illegal under international law and Western governments have vowed to not recognize the regions as Russian territory.

Ukrainian forces have propelled through occupied territory in the country's eastern and southern regions, putting pressure on Russian forces in Kherson and Luhansk.

Meanwhile, Russia's parliament is formalizing the illegal annexation of four regions in Ukraine, which the Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin is likely to sign into law on Tuesday.

Here are the latest developments:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed a decree formally ruling out the possibility of negotiations with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

The decree confirms "the impossibility of holding negotiations with the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin," according the the Ukrainian Presidency’s website.

It is dated last Friday, the day that Putin announced he would illegally annex the four partially-occupied Ukrainian territories of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics.

The move came in response to Putin’s attempt at annexation, the post said.

"It takes two parties to negotiate," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday in response to Kyiv's decree.

He claimed that Russia had wanted to resolve matters "by peaceful diplomatic means" since before Moscow's attempt at a full-scale invasion in February.

"Now we will either wait for a change in the position of the current president, or we will wait for the future president of Ukraine, who will change his position in the interests of the Ukrainian people," Peskov added.

It comes as Russia's parliament formalizes the illegal annexation, in violation of international law. The move follows so-called referendums in the four Ukrainian regions held by Russian-backed leaders, which are illegal under international law and have been denounced by Ukraine and Western leaders as "sham."

More than 200,000 people have joined the Russian Armed Forces as part of the "partial mobilization" of citizens for Moscow's war in Ukraine, according Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

Shoigu said the training of the new units will be conducted on special training grounds and training centers, Russian state outlet RIA Novosti reported Tuesday. Shoigu hasn't provided additional details about the newly mobilized personnel.

Some context: In September, Shoigu said the country would summon 300,000 reservists, after President Vladimir Putin announced increased military conscription.

The move sparked heated protests and an exodus of military age men amid draft fears. Russia's parliament also made amendments to the law on military service to toughen the punishment for violation of military service duties.