Ukrainian soldiers wave the flag at the entrance to the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk
Ukraine has full control of Lyman’s eastern logistics hub, Kyiv’s biggest battle gain in weeks.
“As of 12:30 (09:30 GMT), Lyman is completely cleared,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said today in a short video clip on his Telegram channel.
It comes as US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has welcomed Ukraine’s seizure of the city and said the seizure of the former Russian stronghold makes the war “harder” for Putin .
Mr Austin told a news conference on Sunday that he was “very encouraged” after Saturday’s success by Ukrainian military forces.
He noted that Lyman was located across supply lines that Russia has used to push its troops and equipment south and west as the Kremlin presses ahead with its invasion of Ukraine for more than seven months.
“Without these routes, it will be more difficult. So it presents something of a dilemma for the Russians going forward.”
Ukrainian soldiers announced the capture Saturday in a video recorded in front of the city hall building in downtown Lyman and posted on social media by Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy chief of the office of President Volodymyr Zelensky.
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CPAC removes tweet criticizing support for Ukraine against Russian invasion
The Conservative Political Action Conference’s Twitter account deleted a tweet criticizing Congress for granting aid to Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion on Friday.
On Friday evening, the Conservative People’s Gathering account tweeted about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s annexation of certain territories in Ukraine and the recent passage by Congress of additional aid to Ukraine.
“Vladimir Putin announces annexation of 4 territories occupied by Ukraine,” the tweet said. “Biden and the Democrats continue to send Ukraine billions of taxpayer dollars. Meanwhile, we are under attack on our southern border. When will the Democrats put #AmericaFirst and end the handouts to Ukraine?
CPAC removes tweet criticizing support for Ukraine against Russian invasion
It comes as most Republicans voted against giving aid to Ukraine
Joe Middleton October 2, 2022 4:45 pm
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Ukrainians are making progress and able to push back against Russian forces, NATO chief says
Ukraine’s capture of a city within the territory of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s declared annexation shows that the Ukrainians are making progress and are able to push back against Russian forces, the Secretary-General of the NATO, Jens Stoltenberg.
Stoltenberg said in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the best way to counter Russia’s proclaimed annexation of parts of Ukraine is to continue supporting the government in Kyiv.
Joe Middleton October 2, 2022 4:00 p.m
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‘Highly unlikely’ Putin will use nukes on Ukraine, Wallace says
Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said he thought it was “highly unlikely” that Vladimir Putin would use nuclear weapons in the Ukraine conflict.
He told a Tory conference fringe event that while the use of tactical nuclear weapons was in Russian military doctrine “we think it’s very unlikely that it will.”
Joe Middleton October 2, 2022 3:06 p.m
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Key city of Donetsk liberated and under full Ukrainian control, Zelensky says
A city in Ukraine’s Donetsk region crucial to Russia’s war plans has been liberated and is now under full Ukrainian control, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Russia withdrew its troops from Lyman, which had a pre-war population of about 20,000, on Saturday as Kyiv forces closed in and threatened to encircle them amid ongoing counteroffensives in the north and the east of the country.
Videos posted online around 11.20am on Sunday – and shared by Mr Zelensky’s office – showed Ukrainian soldiers raising the country’s blue and yellow national flag at the entrance to the city.
Key city of Donetsk liberated and under full Ukrainian control, Zelensky says
The video appears to show Ukrainian soldiers raising the national flag at the entrance to the city
Joe Middleton October 2, 2022 2:31 p.m
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Russians fleeing draft talk of three-day queues and bribes to cross border
Russian men desperate to avoid fighting in Ukraine after Vladimir Putin’s conscription order have spoken of three-day queues at the border and bribing security officials with hundreds of pounds at makeshift ‘checkpoints’ to flee the country.
Russians fleeing draft talk of three-day queues and bribes to cross border
“We are afraid of being killed in a war we don’t want with Ukraine.”
Joe Middleton October 2, 2022 1:57 p.m
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Allies point to risky price cap for Russian oil as winter approaches
US officials celebrated in early September when key allies agreed to back a bold and never-before-tested plan to restrict Vladimir Putin’s access to cash as he wages war in Ukraine.
The idea sounded simple enough: countries would only pay reduced prices for Russian oil. This would deprive Putin of money to continue prosecuting his war in Ukraine, but it would also ensure that oil continued to flow out of Russia and help keep world prices low.
A month later, the Group of Seven, which represents some of the world’s leading economies, is still figuring out how to execute the plan, a much more complex task than it might at first appear, and the Dec. 5 deadline to organize participants is fast approaching.
Allies point to risky price cap for Russian oil as winter approaches
US officials celebrated in early September when key allies agreed to back a bold and never-before-tested plan to restrict Vladimir Putin’s access to cash.
Joe Middleton October 2, 2022 1:25 p.m
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Mark Hamill says Zelensky called Russia the “evil empire” in Star Wars reference
Mark Hamill has said that Volodymyr Zelensky compared Russia to the “evil empire” in Star Wars.
The sci-fi star spoke to the Ukrainian president in September.
Hamill, 71, was asked about their reunion during an appearance on the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg.
Mark Hamill says Zelensky called Russia the “evil empire” in Star Wars reference
The actor met with the Ukrainian president in September
Joe Middleton October 2, 2022 1:00 p.m
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Pope Francis urges Vladimir Putin to “stop this spiral of violence and death” in Ukraine
Pope Francis has urged Vladimir Putin to “stop this spiral of violence and death” in Ukraine and denounced the “absurd” risk to humanity of catastrophic nuclear war as tensions rise.
The pontiff made his strongest plea yet about the seven-month war as he addressed the public in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City. It was the first time in public that he cited Putin’s leadership.
He also called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to “be open” to serious peace proposals, the Associated Press reports.
And he urged the international community to “use all diplomatic instruments” to end this “enormous tragedy” and “horror” of war.
“This terrible and inconceivable wound of humanity, instead of shrinking, continues to bleed even more, threatening to spread,” Francis said.
“That humanity should once again be faced with the threat of atomic war is absurd.
“What else has to happen, how much more blood has to flow?” before the war ends, he asked.
The Pope has implored “the president of the Russian Federation, also for the sake of his people, to stop this spiral of violence and death”.
He then urged Mr Zelensky to “be open to serious peace proposals” and asked “all the players in international life and political leaders to insist that they do everything possible to end the war”, avoiding a “dangerous climb”.
Francis called for “the recourse to all diplomatic instruments to end this enormous tragedy”. In his speech he called the war “a horror” and “madness”.
Joe Middleton October 2, 2022 12:20 pm
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Lyman is “completely freed” from Russian forces, Zelensky says
Ukraine said today it was in full control of Lyman’s eastern logistics hub, Kyiv’s biggest battle gain in weeks.
“As of 12:30 (09:30 GMT), Lyman is completely cleared,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a short video clip on his Telegram channel.
There was no comment from the Russian armed forces on Sunday about the state of the city.
Joe Middleton October 2, 2022 11:54 am
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Russians fleeing draft talk of three-day queues and bribes to cross border
Russian men desperate to avoid fighting in Ukraine after Vladimir Putin’s conscription order have spoken of three-day queues at the border and bribing security officials hundreds of pounds at makeshift ‘checkpoints’ to escape of the country.
Russians fleeing draft talk of three-day queues and bribes to cross border
“We are afraid of being killed in a war we don’t want with Ukraine.”
Joe Middleton October 2, 2022 11:30 am