The Ukrainian Armed Forces deny a report to Putin about the "breakthrough" into the Lyman. What NATO says

The Third Army Corps denied statements about the alleged Russian "breakthrough" in the town of Lyman, Donetsk region, by publishing a video of one of the captured invaders. The day before, a senior NATO official said during a briefing that the invaders could probably reach the outskirts of the town, the correspondent reported LIGA.net in Brussels.

On December 1, сhief of the General Staff of the Russian Federation Valery Gerasimov reported to the dictator Vladimir Putin that the occupiers' assault units allegedly entered this settlement in the north of Donetsk region.

"The corps units [the 63rd separate mechanized brigade and the 60th separate mechanized brigade] repel about 40 enemy attacks a day on the outskirts of Lyman and do not allow the enemy to enter the city," emphasized the corps commander, brigadier general Andriy Biletsky.

The military noted that over the past month, the occupiers have tried to infiltrate the outskirts of the city in small groups a dozen times, but the Russians in each group were killed or captured.

Earlier, on December 2, a top NATO official said that Russian troops were infiltrating Lyman and Seversk in Donetsk region.

He claimed that Russia had gained a foothold in Siversk and had probably reached the outskirts of Lyman.

The Third Corps also published a video in which one of the captured Russians thanks the Russian propagandist "military commander" for leaking their positions on Telegram: "The enemy was quickly detected by our fighters. Part of the group was destroyed on the spot, and he was lucky to be captured and survive."

"For four years, Gerasimov has "burned" his army without taking full control of any Ukrainian region. So while our units are nipping in the bud any attempts by Russia to get closer to the Lyman, he is reporting to Putin about non-existent successes," said colonel Pavlo Yurchuk, commander of the 63rd Brigade.

The Ukrainian analytical project Deepstate does not record the consolidation of Russians in Lyman and Siversk. However, some of the settlements (in Lyman, only a small part of the outskirts) and the area around them are in the gray zone. These cities are located to the northeast of the Sloviansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration:

• The aforementioned NATO official also said that the Alliance's intelligence assessment of the situation in Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad shows that the situation in these cities is difficult, but that they may be lost will not mean the collapse of Ukrainian defense.
• Meanwhile, on the evening of December 2, Ukrainian Armed Forces chief Syrskyi said that in Kupiansk significantly improved the tactical position.