“The bay is completely clean. Glory to Ukraine.” President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky put it this Sunday, noting that the city, located in the Donetsk region and the gateway to neighboring Luhansk, in the east of the country and territory occupied by Russia, has been “completely liberated” since noon.

“From 12.30 Liman is completely clean. Thanks to our military, our soldiers. Glory to Ukraine,” the Ukrainian head of state said via a video posted on Telegram.

The Ukrainian army intends to turn the conquest of Liman into “opening the road to Donbass,” Serhiy Chereviy, spokesman for the Armed Forces of the Eastern Group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said yesterday, Europa Press reports.

transport node

Last Saturday, the official representative of the Russian army, General Igor Konashenkov, confirmed the withdrawal of Russian troops from the city. “Due to the threat of encirclement, the allied troops were withdrawn from the settlement to more advantageous lines,” Konashenkov explained at a press conference put together by the TASS agency.

The city was used by the Russian army as a vital transport hub. There, according to Ukrainian estimates, about 5,000 Russian soldiers remained surrounded on Saturday, in what was the biggest siege by a Russian contingent since the start of the war.

Konashenkov did not confirm the exact number of Russian soldiers remaining in Liman, and limited himself to pointing out that about 200 servicemen were killed as a result of breaking the Ukrainian blockade on the orders of the Kyiv government, without specifying the details.