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Lyman claim and a week of strikes
Summary
Russia's announcement on 27 May 2022 that it had captured Lyman came amid shelling and missile strikes across Ukrainian cities.
What did Russia's claim to have taken Lyman signal about the direction of the war on 27 May 2022? The announcement was part of the Donbas offensive in eastern Ukraine, and it arrived at the end of a week in which Russian fire struck cities far from the front line.
A claim in the east
On 27 May 2022, Russian forces announced that they had captured the city of Lyman, an episode recorded as part of the Battle of Lyman within the wider eastern offensive.
Strikes on cities
The days before the announcement brought a series of attacks on urban areas. On 25 May 2022, a Russian cruise missile strike destroyed a shopping centre and several homes in Zaporizhzhia, killing one person and injuring three others. Local officials said at least 62 homes were damaged. The same day, Russian missiles hit the Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast, injuring several people.
On 26 May 2022, local authorities said Russian shelling in downtown Kharkiv had killed seven people.
Mariupol and the sea corridor
Also on 26 May 2022, the Russian defence ministry said civilian vessels were allowed to use a maritime humanitarian corridor to reach the port of Mariupol, which Russia had captured the previous week.
Taken together, the reports from 25 to 27 May 2022 show fighting on several fronts at once: a claimed advance in the Donbas, missile and artillery strikes on cities in the south, east and Donetsk region, and Russian statements about opening access to a captured port.
