Russian troops left a key Ukrainian city so quickly they left the bodies of their comrades in the streets, providing fresh evidence on Tuesday of the latest military defeat for Moscow as it seeks to hold on to four Ukrainian regions it has illegally annexed. Associated Press.

Meanwhile, the upper house of the Russian parliament has approved annexations following “referendums” that Ukraine and its Western allies have dismissed as rigged.

Over the weekend, Russian troops withdrew from Liman, a strategic city in the east that the Russians used as a logistics and transportation hub to avoid being surrounded by Ukrainian forces. The liberation of the city gave Ukraine an important vantage point from which it could intensify its offensive deep into Russian-controlled territory.

Two days later, an Associated Press team reporting from Liman saw at least 18 bodies of Russian soldiers still lying on the ground. The Ukrainian military allegedly took the bodies of their comrades after fierce battles for control of the city, but did not immediately take the bodies of the Russians.

“We are fighting for our land, for our children, for our people to live better, but all this at a very high price,” said a Ukrainian military man who gave his name as Rud.

The inhabitants of Lyman came out of the cellars in which they had been hiding during the battle and built a fire to eat food. Since May, the city has been without water, electricity and gas. Residential buildings were set on fire.

Russian forces launched several missile strikes on Ukrainian cities on Tuesday as Kyiv stepped up its counteroffensive in the east and south.

Several rockets hit Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, damaging infrastructure and causing power outages.

The Russians behaved in the same way, retreating from the outskirts of Kyiv.

“They have a good fairy tale that says they don’t leave their dead soldiers… well it’s a fairy tale indeed!” – Colonel Volodymyr Lyamzin quips. According to him, Moscow has shown no desire to facilitate the return of its dead, despite the efforts of the Ukrainian authorities.

“They will be stored in our refrigerated mobile vehicles for as long as needed,” said Lyamzin, who is overseeing recovery operations.

“If Russia does not take them away, after some time our government will pass a resolution and these bodies will be buried here in Ukraine,” he continued.

“Those we can identify will be buried under their names. Those who don’t will be buried as unknown soldiers,” concludes the Ukrainian colonel.

Link:

• “Do Russian soldiers not abandon their dead? It’s just a fairy tale” / Ukrainian troops find the bodies of Russian soldiers
• The smell of the dead. The bodies of Russian soldiers lie untouched from the front a month after the war