Ukrainian forces exploited the breakthrough as Russians fully rout.

Today, there is important news from the Liman direction.

Here, Ukrainians are actively pressing their advantage and overrunning Russian lines. After Ukrainians pushed Russians out of over two-hundred square kilometers of territory north of the city and forced a massive Russian withdrawal, Russians were overwhelmed by the speed at which Ukrainians began consolidating their old positions. Notably, this resulted in Russians failing to adequately consolidate their own new defensive line, with Ukrainians clearing northern Liman of Russian infiltrators and remnants. Additionally, Ukrainians are pressing on directly toward settlements on the eastern bank of the Zherebets River, namely Novovodiane, Makiivka, and Balka Zhuravka.

Notably, the most important target here is not the capture of these settlements themselves, but rather the forests that cover the hills on the west side of the Zherebets River. These positions are excellent for Ukrainian drone operators and soldiers to establish positions in, as the trees and foliage cover a lot of their movement. This will allow Ukrainians a much more secure line to push Russian control even further back, as well as massively improve their defensive capabilities in case of renewed Russian assaults. Aside from the cover advantage, the towns that Russians are currently retreating into also provide extremely little shelter and cover for Russian soldiers to hide and accumulate forces in. First, these towns were intensely shelled by Russians during their initial offensive toward Liman. Then, these towns were intensely shelled by Ukrainians when Russians were using them to try and cross the Zherebets River.

This has left only basements for Russian soldiers to shelter in, giving Ukrainians even more advantage as they can drop grenades or other high explosives directly into the Russian shelters. Additionally, as with the Kolodiazi pocket to the south, there are only a limited number of crossing points over the river, and attempting to set up new fording points has become even more dangerous. Coordination among Ukrainian drone operators in the sector has increased significantly since last year, when Russians first established their bridgehead. This means that after being pushed back across the river in full, Russians will find it even more difficult to reestablish the bridgehead they are currently losing.

Important to note is that Russians never intended to lose their bridgehead across the Zherebets River, only to withdraw the large number of forces that Ukrainians were threatening to encircle north of Liman. However, the speed at which Ukrainians began advancing, and the failure of Russians to consolidate their new line, is completely dismantling this Russian operation. The supposed organized Russian withdrawal is quickly turning into a complete rout, with Ukrainians overrunning Russian lines and overwhelming the enemy before they can reform.

Additionally, reports are now emerging that a significantly larger number of Russian soldiers than originally admitted were left stranded deep inside the pocket. Russian sources are reporting ongoing clashes in the fields and tree lines now within the areas Ukrainians have advanced into. These consist of small groups of Russian soldiers stuck inside their positions, which did not withdraw for one reason or another. Regardless however, as Russian forces are now fully focused on retreating back across the river, it is unlikely that these remnant positions will soon be reinforced or resupplied. Ukrainians are reporting rapid clearing operations in the new rear, as Russian holdouts are being eliminated one by one.

Overall, the planned organized Russian withdrawal out of the Liman pocket is quickly devolving into a full rout. Ukrainians are rapidly advancing and overwhelming Russian forces before they are able to consolidate a new line of defense. The loss of key tactical positions west of the Zherebets River will completely dismantle any Russian hope of retaining a foothold and provide Ukrainians with a much stronger position to strike into Russian lines from. With Russian remnants in the rear being eliminated at this very moment, and Russian forces losing more than they initially intended to, the question now is how much more Ukrainians can exploit this Russian defeat and inflict the maximum damage to the retreating Russian forces.