Ukraine forces ‘entering’ Lyman, key Donestk town

Ukraine’s defense ministry said Saturday its forces were “entering” the key town of Lyman in the eastern Donetsk region that Russia annexed a day earlier.

“Ukrainian Air Assault Forces are entering Lyman, Donetsk region,” the ministry said on Twitter, posting a video of soldiers holding up a Ukrainian flag near a sign with the town’s name.

Lyman lies in the north of Donetsk, which Moscow annexed despite only controlling part of the region.

Russia on Friday proclaimed four Moscow-held territories in Ukraine -- Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson -- part of Russia, following hastily organized referendums denounced by Kyiv and the West.

“Ukraine’s army has and will always have the decisive vote in today’s and any future ‘referendums’,” the defense ministry said.

A spokesman for Ukraine's eastern forces, Serhiy Cherevatyi, said Saturday that several thousand Russian troops were “encircled” near Lyman.

The Kremlin-backed leader of Donetsk said Friday that Russian troops and their allies were holding on to Lyman with “their last strength.”