Another Ukrainian town feared under full control of Russia

RUSSIA, UKRAINE: Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Saturday that the Ukrainian town of Lyman had fallen under the full control of Russian and Russian-backed forces in Eastern Ukraine.

The claim comes a day after pro-Russian separatists from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic said they had fully captured the town, a railway hub West of Sievierodonetsk.

Ukraine said on Friday that Russia had captured most of Lyman but that its forces were blocking an advance to Sloviansk, a city a half-hour drive further Southwest. Ukrainian and Russian forces had been fighting for Lyman for several days.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian Presidential Adviser and peace talks negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak said on Saturday that any agreement with Russia cannot be trusted and Moscow can only be stopped in its invasion by force.

“Any agreement with Russia isn’t worth a broken penny, Podolyak wrote on the Telegram messaging app. “Is it possible to negotiate with a country that always lies cynically and propagandistically?”

Russia and Ukraine have blamed each other after peace talks stalled, with the last known face-to-face negotiations on March 29.

Meanwhile, Russia has successfully test-fired a new hypersonic missile – Zircon – with a range of over 1,000 km (625 miles), news agency Reuters reported Saturday. Reuters cited a Russian defence ministry communication that said the missile had been fired from the Barents Sea and hit a target in the White Sea – a distance of around 1,016 km (631 miles). In earlier tests Russia also claimed to have fired the Zircon from a submerged submarine. – THE INDIAN EXPRESS