"A step towards the liberation of Donbass"

Russia announced yesterday that its troops had left the main stronghold in occupied eastern Ukraine. That defeat prompted one of President Vladimir Putin's most extreme allies to suggest Russia use low-yield nuclear weapons.

Liman's downfall came a day after Putin declared the annexation of four Ukrainian regions, including Donetsk, where the city is located, and placed them under Russia's nuclear umbrella, in a ceremony Kiev condemned in the West as an illegitimate farce.

"In connection with the creation of a threat of encirclement, allied troops have been withdrawn from the settlement of Krasni Liman to more favorable positions," the Russian Defense Ministry said, using the Russian name of the city, Reuters reported.

The announcement ended hours of silence from Moscow after Ukraine first said it had encircled thousands of Russian troops in the area and then said its forces were in Liman.

"Ukraine's military has and will always have the deciding vote in today's and all future 'referendums,'" the Ukrainian military tweeted, referring to secession votes.

The encirclement of Russian soldiers and the fall of the city, which before the war had about 20.000 inhabitants, caused consternation among pro-Kremlin bloggers on social networks and fierce criticism of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.

He said the Russian Defense Ministry had left troops in the area without adequate communications equipment, support and supplies.

"How can you properly command units when you are 150 km away? We left several cities and a large part of the territory because we did not have basic military logistics," Kadyrov wrote on Telegram. He called on Putin to retaliate with an even greater escalation against Ukraine.

"We need to take more fundamental steps, including declaring a state of emergency in border areas and using low-power nuclear weapons," Kadyrov said.

Zakhar Prilepin, a writer and leader of a political party in the Russian parliament, wrote: "Ukrainian armed forces enter Liman. Our city. Our Russian city... Every loss is the personal loss of the commander-in-chief."

Russia has the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons in the world, including low-yield tactical nuclear weapons designed to be deployed against opposing armies. Other top Putin allies, including former President Dmitry Medvedev, have said Russia may have to resort to nuclear weapons, but Kadyrov's call is the most explicit. Putin said last Sunday that he was not bluffing when he said that he was ready to defend the "territorial integrity" of Russia with all available means, and on Friday he made it clear that this also applies to the new areas that he declared annexed to Russia.

Washington said it would respond decisively to any use of nuclear weapons and warned Moscow of the "catastrophic consequences" it would face.

The capture of Liman is key to Ukraine's west-to-east counteroffensive aimed at cutting the north-south supply lines that sustain Russia's campaign in the Donbass, which consists of Donetsk and Luhansk. It is Ukraine's biggest battlefield success since a lightning counteroffensive in northeastern Kharkiv Oblast last month.

It is unclear how many Russian soldiers have withdrawn from Liman, where, according to estimates, there were 5.500 by Friday. The Russian Defense Ministry said that Ukrainian troops had a "significant advantage in forces and resources" that allowed them to lead the attack on Liman, the "Financial Times" reported.

Ukrainian social networks were flooded with images of captured Russian soldiers. Ukrainian soldiers raised their flag at the entrance to Liman, according to a video released by Andriy Chermak, President Volodymyr Zelenskyi's chief of staff.

Sergiy Gaidai, the Ukraine-appointed governor of Lugansk Oblast, said Russian forces had three options: "To flee, die together or surrender," he wrote on Telegram.

In the message, Ramzan Kadyrov described Colonel-General Alexander Lapin, the commander of the Russian forces fighting at Liman, as "mediocrity" and suggested that he be demoted to a soldier and stripped of his decorations. Kadyrov also said that he had personally warned the Chief of the Russian General Staff, General Valery Gerasimov, about the imminent disaster.

"The general assured me that there is no doubt about Lapin's talent for leadership and that he does not think that a retreat in... Liman and its surroundings is possible," the Chechen leader said.

The influential ruler of the Caucasus region is a vocal supporter of the war in Ukraine, and Chechen forces formed part of the advance guard of the Russian army there. Kadyrov is believed to be personally close to Putin, who in 2007 appointed him to govern restive Chechnya.

The Ukrainian military said that capturing Liman would allow Kiev to advance in the Luhansk region, which Moscow announced in early July as its full conquest.

"Liman is important because it is the next step towards the liberation of the Ukrainian Donbass. It is an opportunity to go further to Kremina and Severodonetsk, and psychologically it is very important," said Sergiy Cherevatii, spokesman for the eastern Ukrainian forces.

Putin is at the ceremony on Friday declared the accession to Russia of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, and southern Kherson and Zaporizhia - which is a territory that makes up about 18 percent of the total area of ​​Ukraine. Ukraine and its Western allies branded the move illegal. Kiev has vowed to continue liberating its country from Russian forces and said it will not hold peace talks with Moscow while Putin is in power.