In the east (northeast) of the Kharkiv region, the railway network converges at one point towards the Kubyansk Vouslovy station, then descends south towards Svadov in the Luhansk region, which is annexed by Russia.
During the six-month Russian occupation, trains transported supplies over these tracks to Moscow troops stationed further south, making the station a key logistical hub for Russian military operations.
But in recent times the situation has changed. A Ukrainian counter-offensive helped Kyiv regain large swaths of territory in the region, forcing the Russians to withdraw.
The station, although heavily damaged, is now in the hands of the Ukrainian military.
“This site has always been an important strategic point. It is a crossroads for cargo and trains”, explains Ukrainian soldier “Rozomaka”, whose name de Guerre translates as “glutton”.
Behind him, the station’s windows are broken and the hall is deserted.
During a visit to the station of the “Rosomakha” division on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky officially announced that Lyman was captured on the front in the Donetsk region, but was annexed by Moscow on Friday.
The city was “completely cleared” of the Russian military, he hailed in a video, marking an important victory for Kyiv, two days after Moscow formalized the annexation of Ukrainian areas its military fully controls or controls.
“Panic”
Kupyansk Vouzloviï is 90 km north of Lyman, across the Oskil River, not far from the city of Kupyansk, which was captured by the Ukrainians last week.
Faced with its defeats, the Russian army had to retreat hastily in the direction of Svatov, halfway to the important cities of Severodonetsk and Lysisansk, which it had struggled to take from the Ukrainians before the summer.
Not enough to worry, “Rosomaka” and his brothers were determined to continue their march to liberate the occupied territories.
“They fled in panic, they had already sent their troops elsewhere in the middle of summer,” says the soldier, adding that the capture of several Russian prisoners gives the Ukrainian army good knowledge of Moscow’s firing. on the ground.
According to him, the Russian army has already been reinforced by hundreds of thousands of reservists urgently called up by Russian President Vladimir Putin within ten days to prevent the dynamics of Q.
The soldier prefers to remain optimistic and recalls that “according to Ukrainian law, these territories are part of Ukraine,” adding that Moscow’s annexation of the territories has been widely condemned by Kyiv and its Western allies.
“This is our land,” he adds, standing a few meters from a large crater that formed following shelling as the Russian army withdrew.
“I’m from the Lugansk region”, which is still largely Russian-controlled, he says. “That’s why I won’t stop until the last Russian leaves these lands.”
“Total coffee junkie. Tv ninja. Unapologetic problem solver. Beer expert.”