Russian Troops Abandon Key Ukraine City Leaving Behind Bodies Of Their Comrades

As Ukrainian forces continue their successful counteroffensive to retake cities that were overtaken and occupied by Russia, many on Tuesday said that the Russian retreat was so hasty that many corpses of their fellow soldiers were left in the streets for Ukraine to find.

As the Ukrainian military retook the city of Lyman, a strategic logistic and transport hub for the region, the military found the abandoned bodies of dead Russian soldiers that were left on the streets by fleeing Russian forces from the city, according to the AP News.

At least 18 bodies of dead Russian soldiers were found in the streets alongside the deceased soldiers of Ukraine. Journalists in the area noted that the Russian bodies were not immediately collected by Ukrainian forces.

The city of Lyman was liberated once Russian forces fled in an attempt to not be encircled by the incoming Ukrainian army. The battle between the two militaries was so severe that many of the residents of the city were forced to hide in their basements without food or electricity, Al Jazeera reported.

“We fight for our land, for our children, so that our people can live better, but all this comes at a very high price,” a Ukrainian soldier said.

The reclamation of Lyman is a strategic boon for Ukraine, who can use the city to continue their counteroffensive efforts to retake the rest of the region occupied by Russia. Despite, or maybe due to, their continued and sustained success in retaking territories from Russia, the Russian Federation has pushed forward with annexation of the four occupied regions of Ukraine.

Despite the unclear borders that these annexed regions have, the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions were approved for annexation by the upper and lower house of Russia’s parliament, with Russian President Vladimir Putin expected to endorse and approve the annexation soon.

The annexation comes as Russia continues its partial military mobilization, with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu saying that over 200,000 reservists are undergoing training in multiple firing ranges across the country before being deployed.

Possibly in response to this, the United States has approved an additional $625 million towards military aid for the Ukrainian counteroffensive efforts, which includes the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems that have been credited with turning the tide of the war towards the Ukrainian’s favor.