APU occupied Liman. Kadyrov proposes to launch a nuclear strike

The Russian army retreated on Saturday from the strategically important city of Liman after a counterattack by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Moscow said its troops withdrew from the city to avoid encirclement by the Ukrainian army.

“Under the threat of encirclement, the Allied troops withdrew from the city of Krasny Liman to more advantageous positions,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement, which uses the city’s Russian name.

Earlier, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reported that the army captured the village of Drobyshev, located very close to Liman in the Donetsk region.
Liman is a stronghold of critical importance for Moscow. Before the war, it had about 20,000 inhabitants. It was captured by Russian troops in May after a long battle. It has been the center of the fighting since Ukraine pushed Russia out of the nearby Kharkiv region in a counter-offensive this month.

Simultaneously with the Kharkiv direction, the Armed Forces of Ukraine launched a major attack in the South, in the direction of Kherson.

“Advice” on the use of nuclear weapons

In recent days, as the Russian military retreated from the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Ramzan Kadyrov said that Moscow should consider using tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

In his message on Telegram, criticizing Russian commanders for abandoning the city of Liman in eastern Ukraine, Kadyrov said: “In my opinion, more drastic measures should be taken, up to the declaration of martial law in the border regions and the use of low-yield nuclear weapons.”

Other senior Putin allies, including former President Dmitry Medvedev, said Russia might have to resort to nuclear weapons. Yet Kadyrov’s advice is the most convincing and clear.

Recall that Putin himself left open the possibility of using nuclear weapons, saying that he was ready to defend Russia’s “territorial integrity” by all available means. It is noted that this “right” applies to the new territories of Ukraine, which Moscow officially annexes.

For its part, Washington signaled that it would respond strongly to any use of nuclear weapons, and clearly pointed out to Moscow the “catastrophic consequences” it would face without specifying anything.

All this is happening a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin officially declared annexation by Russia four Ukrainian regions: an event that changes the facts about the war being waged in Ukraine, which has lost 15% of its territory.

In response, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hastened to call on his country for NATO membership, but received zero reaction from the alliance, represented by its head Jens Stoltenberg. Thus, for now, the first attempt at escalation with the possible direct involvement of NATO in the war has been averted, but the future remains highly uncertain.

Under these conditions, German Defense Minister Christina Lambrecht made a surprise visit to Ukraine on Saturday. This is her first visit since the beginning of the Russian offensive, while Kyiv insistently asks Berlin to send tanks. The minister went to Odessa, the German Defense Ministry said, without specifying the duration of the visit. Labrecht met in Odessa with his Ukrainian counterpart Alexei Reznikov.

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