Russian forces driven out of the strategic eastern Ukrainian city of Lyman in Donetsk region have returned to the eastern city of Kreminna to “hold the line” on the front line, according to a senior US military official quoted by CNN.

The official called the liberation of Lyman by Ukrainian forces a “significant operational achievement” because it was used by Russian forces as a “logistics center.”

“This affects the ability to supplement the forces along the front line of the troops … in the Kharkiv region to the Bakhmut district and south to Kherson,” the official said.

The best weapon for victory

Retired US Air Force Col. Cedric Leighton told CNN on Monday that there is a proposal to the Ukrainian government for the Biden administration to actually veto their target list of Russian military facilities to receive long-range missiles, thus ensuring they don’t hit on the territory of Russia.

Now the chances of getting such long-range missiles are very high, and this is partly due to the “stunning success” that Ukraine has recently achieved in the war.

CNN military analyst Leighton pointed to Ukraine’s recent success in recapturing the key eastern city of Liman and other areas in the north of the country as evidence that the Ukrainian military has a “head start” in the war.

“When you look at what is happening in the northeast of the country, in Liman, in the territory that was just liberated, do you see how much the Ukrainians have already penetrated into this territory?” Leighton told CNN.

He added that this success means that Ukraine “may demand even more” from the Biden administration in terms of weapons systems and other needs to “continue the military effort even further into Russian-controlled territory.”

In an effort to overcome the U.S. government’s resistance to providing it with a new set of powerful long-range missile systems, the Ukrainian government is now giving the U.S. full and ongoing visibility of its list of Russian targets, multiple officials familiar with CNN’s The Conversation say.

This remarkable transparency essentially gives the US veto power over Ukrainian facilities against Russia and is intended to convince the administration that the provision of critical weapons will not lead to strikes on Russian territory, which the US fears will escalate the war and directly conflict with the President of Russia. Vladimir Putin.