Ukrainian forces advanced dozens of miles into Russian-occupied Luhansk and Kherson territory on Monday, days after Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed he would annex the region.
According to Reuters, the Russian resident chief of occupied Kherson told Russian state television that Ukrainian forces had seized control of the city of Duchany. This represents about 25 miles of progress in one day.
“The information is tense, because there has indeed been a breakthrough,” official Vladimir Sardo told Russian state television.
“Near the Dnipro River there is a settlement called Dutchany, in that very area, [Ukrainian] breakthrough. There are settlements occupied by the Ukrainian army,” he continued.
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Ukraine is also making significant progress in the Dontesk region, with Russian troops withdrawing from the main city of Lyman on Friday, just hours after Putin claimed in a ceremony in Moscow that he would annex the region.
This capture gives Ukrainian forces the opportunity to advance further into the Luhansk region.
Putin held a lavish event in Moscow on Friday to announce Russia’s annexation of the Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions, declaring residents there to be Russian citizens.
The move comes after Russia held a widely criticized referendum in the region, which found that more than 87% of residents in each region supported Russian rule.
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Russian agents claimed they had 87% civilian support in Kherson, 93% in Zaporizhia, 98% in Luhansk and 99% in Donetsk.
The United States and NATO allies dismissed the so-called referendum as a “fake referendum” designed to give Putin an excuse for annexation.
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Nonetheless, Putin’s move came amid weeks of success for the Ukrainian military, beginning with a major counteroffensive in early September.
Putin was forced to announce a partial military mobilization last month, sparking a surge in military-age men fleeing the country for fear of being drafted.