Video footage shared on Telegram (see below) by Komsomolskaya Pravda war correspondent Alexander Kots shows the sheer amount of destruction that can be caused by multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS). The incredible footage shows multiple rockets striking sites across the Ukrainian city of Lyman.
“Epic footage of artillery training before the attack on Krasnyi Liman. The brave group continues to dislodge the enemy from the city,” Kots wrote in Russian in the Telegram post.
The 13-second video, recorded by a drone, shows the entire city of Lyman up in smoke. The scale of the attack is immense, with all areas of the city being hit by rockets simultaneously. Smoke can be seen billowing into the air and forming a dark cloud over the entire region.
Zelenskyy
In his nightly address on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the thousands of soldiers defending the country against Russian invaders and made specific references to Russia’s efforts to destroy Ukrainian cities.
“The situation in Donbas is extremely difficult,” the president said. “In fact, all the strength the Russian army still has was thrown there to attack. Lyman, Popasna, Severodonetsk, Slovyansk – the occupiers want to destroy everything there.”
After describing the horrors seen in Ukrainian cities, Zelenskyy called for a continued supply of heavy weapons to Ukraine, including MLRS, tanks, anti-ship missiles, and more.
Russians Initiate Advance Towards Lyman
The video of Russian rockets bombarding the city of Lyman comes as Ukraine’s General Staff announces that Russian occupiers have “focused their main efforts in Bakhmut direction” and are now working to advance towards Lyman in Donetsk Oblast.
Russian forces continue their efforts to take control of Donetsk and Luhansk after successfully taking control of the city of Mariupol and establishing a land bridge between Russian-occupied Donbas and Crimea.
Ukraine’s General Staff also said that Russian forces are attacking Komyshuvakha and Lyman in Donetsk Oblast, and Sievierodonetsk and Novozvanivka in Luhansk Oblast. Troops are using airstrikes and artillery to clear the way as troops move through the cities – all of which are substantially smaller than the nation’s capital, Kyiv.
With smaller cities in their way and military resources now focused almost entirely in Ukraine’s east, Russian forces technically have a better chance of taking control of the region than they did Kyiv.
But with a continuous supply of artillery, anti-tank missiles, and munitions from the West, Russian soldiers are still struggling to make the kind of progress they likely expected would only take weeks to achieve. Three months in, and Russia still doesn’t have any meaningful advantage over Ukrainian fighters.
Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society.
