Massive UNBELIEVABLE Victory... 200 KM² LIBERATED... Lyman NEXT

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Become a Member Today and Unlock EXCLUSIVE Videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKfak8fBm_Lhy4eX9UKxEpA/join  In a major four-month campaign, Ukraine’s 3rd Army Corps systematically dismantled a critical Russian salient north of Lyman, liberating over 200 square kilometers between the Zherebets and Nitrius rivers. By employing EW-supported, multi-axis infantry pushes, Ukrainian forces secured key settlements and protected vital supply corridors feeding Sloviansk and Kramatorsk. Discover how Kyiv’s strategic victory resets the operational timeline across the northern Donbas front line.  ⏱️ CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Clement Molin OSINT Report: 200 Sq Km Liberated 01:13 - Geography of the Zherebets, Nitrius, and Oskil Rivers 02:30 - Formation of the Russian Salient Threatening Donbas Supply Routes 04:02 - Phase 1: 3rd Assault Brigade Infiltration and Nove Village Clearance 06:21 - Russian Glide Bomb Counter-Strikes and Multi-Axis Expansion 07:54 - Encirclement Threat at Kolodiazi Cuts Off the Salient 09:07 - August 24 Mechanized Offensive Eliminates the Russian Bulge 10:45 - OSINT Discretion & Rybar Panic Over Lyman Defenses 12:15 - Strategic Value: Protecting the Sloviansk-Kramatorsk Fortification Belt 13:58 - Resetting the Donbas Timeline and Negotiating Leverage Shifts  Support us directly as we bring you independent, up-to-date reporting on military news and global conflicts by clicking here: https://www.youtube.com/@TheMilitaryShow/join  #militarystrategy #militarydevelopments #militaryanalysis #themilitaryshow  SOURCES: https://pastebin.com/jGzsPbie

Transcript

00:00In September 2022, the Ukrainian armed forces launched an incredible counter-offensive campaign,

00:08recapturing vast swathes of lost land and pushing the Russian invaders back out of both the Kharkiv

00:13and Kherson regions. Fast forward four years and Ukraine is today celebrating another unbelievable

00:20victory. 200 square kilometers of territory have been liberated along the Eastern Front,

00:25and it only took four months to make this happen. It's one of the swiftest and most successful

00:31land recapture campaigns we've seen in years, a powerful sign of how much the momentum of this

00:36war has shifted and how far Ukraine has come. And it has no intention of stopping anytime soon.

00:42Kiev's forces are already looking further afield, plotting their subsequent steps and eyeing their

00:47next targets, while their Russian foes are forced to ponder the worrying ramifications of these recent

00:52events. Before we explain exactly what happened, if you want to enjoy instant access to exclusive

00:58military reports about Russia, Ukraine, Iran, the US, and more, join the Military Show channel today.

01:04News of the recent Ukrainian victory came courtesy of French open-source intelligence analyst Clement

01:10Molin, who shared a detailed explanation of events via his personal ex-account. After four months of the

01:16Lehman counter-attack, Ukraine 3rd Army Corps managed to cut Russian salient north of Lehman

01:21and liberate more than 200 square kilometers. This is one of the most important victories for Ukraine

01:27in 2026, which will delay the offensive on northern Donbass. To understand exactly why Milan and other

01:33experts are calling this such a significant moment in the war so far, it's key to understand the

01:38importance of the area in which it occurred, just north of the city of Lehman, which sits in the Donetsk

01:43region, not far from the borders with both the Kharkiv and Luhansk regions of Ukraine.

01:47The area to the north of Lehman is quite a diverse landscape, featuring multiple rivers, valleys,

01:53forests, rolling hills, stretches of farmland, and numerous small settlements and villages

01:58dotted here and there. The rivers are arguably the most important of these features. For Ukraine,

02:04they serve as natural barriers. For Russia, they are obstacles that have to be traversed.

02:08That's not easy at the best of times, and it's even more difficult when you're facing swarms of

02:13unmanned aerial vehicles and fortified riverside positions. Thanks to that, Ukraine managed to hold

02:18onto most of the land on one side of the Zerebets River, and as Milan notes, they made good use

02:23of

02:23the high ground in that area to fire on any Russian assault squads that attempted to enter the zone.

02:28This led to immense losses on the Russian side, but one thing we've learned about the Russian war

02:32machine is that it's perfectly happy to expend vast amounts of troops in order to get what it wants.

02:38Even when suffering loss after loss and failure after failure, it will stubbornly persist with the

02:44same brute force tactics in the hope that eventually its opponent relents. That's what

02:50happened here. It took a long time, but bit by bit the Kremlin's forces slowly managed to form what's

02:55known in military terminology as a salient, a bulge or outward projection that extends into an enemy's

03:01territory between the Zerebets and the smaller Nitreus River, which is situated further to the west.

03:08After that, two more rivers, the Oskil and Donets, remain and are notoriously difficult to cross,

03:13which has allowed Ukraine to maintain control of the towns and villages around them.

03:17Still, the fact that the Russians managed to form this salient was a major cause for concern

03:21for Kyiv's forces. It wasn't just a meaningless patch of land, it was potentially the springboard

03:26that Russia needed to advance on other strategic locations nearby, like the city of Liman itself,

03:32or the supply lines that Ukraine relies on to feed key stronghold cities like Izium and Slovyansk,

03:37for instance. As Milan explains, the salient threatened to strangle the northern supply

03:41road into the Donetsk region, which is so important in helping Ukraine shore up its defenses in this

03:46critical section of the Eastern Front. And Russia had battled hard for this patch of ground. It wasn't

03:51going to give it up easily. But Ukraine couldn't simply sit idly by and allow its enemy to strengthen

03:56and solidify its salient. It had to destroy it. And so, as Milan explains, Ukrainian forces prepared

04:02their plans and, in late May, began the first phase of a multi-stage operation aimed at pushing the

04:08Russians back over the river for good. The opening move came on May 22, when a mechanized battalion

04:15from Ukraine's 3rd Assault Brigade, ably reinforced by elements of the 60th and 66th Brigades of the 3rd

04:21Army Corps, launched a mechanized offensive through the forests east of Izium and into the village of Nova.

04:27They hoped that their electronic warfare systems would prove sufficient to jam Russia's drones,

04:31allowing troops and vehicles to move in and establish a small but crucial foothold in the forest.

04:36This was vital, as the Russian troops were no doubt relying on their drone swarms to help them pick

04:41off any Ukrainian assets in the area and deter their opponent from attempting any sort of medium

04:46or large-scale assault on the salient. The mission didn't go flawlessly. Reports state that multiple

04:52Ukrainian vehicles were struck on May 22, but others managed to make it through, allowing Ukraine to

04:58establish supply lines and entrench themselves within the woods. After consolidating their forces,

05:03they took the next step, which involved clearing operations in and around Nova itself, which was

05:08completely under Russian control at the time. Additional Ukrainian units moved into other

05:12surrounding wooded areas, and together, they ramped up the pressure on the village, and by June 1st,

05:17it was almost entirely liberated. According to quotes from the 3rd Corps commander, Brigadier

05:22General Andriy Beletsky, it seems that Ukraine achieved this through a series of small assaults,

05:27with infantry teams advancing either on foot or in light-armoured vehicles, supported by drones from

05:32above, to break through Russia's defensive lines and weaken the enemy's grip on the village gradually,

05:37rather than rushing in with a large force and attempting to recapture it in a single swoop.

05:41This ties into the sort of strategies we've seen Ukraine deploy over the course of the entire

05:45conflict. While Russian commanders are perfectly content treating their troops like cattle and

05:50sending them to the slaughter, their Ukrainian counterparts tend to be much more cautious and

05:55resourceful, taking a more moderate and measured approach to achieve their goals with the fewest

05:59possible losses. They most likely made strong use of their forest positions and the long tree lines

06:05in the area near Nova to conceal their movements and confuse their enemy. And their enemy certainly

06:09wasn't sitting back and allowing Ukraine to attack unopposed. Open-source satellite imagery, which

06:15Milan and other analysts relied on to piece together the details of these events, shows that Russia

06:20carried out multiple glide bomb strikes on the tree lines around Nova in the early days of June.

06:25Ukrainian forces had to withstand those strikes as well as they could, and this seemingly slowed

06:30down their progress somewhat throughout the month of June, which seemed to be more about consolidation

06:35rather than conquest. By the end of the month, Milan reports that Russia had carried out 71

06:40separate airstrikes in the Nova area, but it clearly wasn't enough to stop Ukraine from pushing on

06:45and whittling away at the salient even more. As the weeks went by, Ukraine's forces secured

06:50positions west of Nova and Lipova, before pushing on through more forests and tree lines to the south

06:55and towards other villages and settlements, such as the Lenya Dolina, which was secured in mid-July.

07:01The key here is that the Ukrainians weren't just moving in one direction or from one location,

07:05they were opening multiple axes against the salient, with different groups focusing on their own

07:10specific targets, so Russia couldn't simply consolidate its forces and focus on defending

07:14a particular area. It had to deal with numerous threats, moving in on a continuous basis. That's

07:19much harder. By giving Russia many small problems to solve, rather than just one big one, Ukrainian

07:25troops were making the salient almost impossible to save. Even if Russian forces held a settlement in

07:30one area, they'd likely lose one somewhere else, and that meant their overall territorial control was

07:35diminishing. It happened relatively slowly, but it happened nonetheless. And in August,

07:40Ukraine made the breakthrough it had been waiting for, and Russia had been dreading.

07:44But before we explain what that is, if this is the kind of insight you want more of,

07:48make sure you are subscribed to The Military Show. We break it down like this every single week.

07:52By the latter stages of the summer, Ukrainian forces have made some sizeable gains in the south.

07:57They were still coming under heavy fire, with Milan reporting close to 200 airstrikes in total,

08:02but it still wasn't enough to stop them, and on or around August 15th,

08:07they arrived just north of the village of Kolodyatsy. The village itself isn't particularly

08:12noteworthy, but military maps revealed why it mattered so much. In reaching this location,

08:17Ukraine was close to cutting off the salient entirely. Its forces had almost encircled a

08:22projection, both above and below, and were eating into its eastern side. Any Russian troops left in the

08:28center were being isolated and their supply lines severed. It's not clear how many troops and other

08:33Russian assets were actually in the area at this time. Some may have retreated to safe ground in the

08:38east, on the other side of the Zerebets river, once their commanders realized what was going on.

08:43Others, however, likely remained in place, either due to stubborn leaders who refused to retreat,

08:47or simply waited too long to understand the gravity of the situation. Either way, Ukraine's work

08:53wasn't done. On August 24th, it took a big step towards finishing the job. It launched another

08:58major mechanized attack. Milan believes that the purpose of this assault wasn't just to help

09:03Ukrainian forces move further south, but also to the east, taking territory between the settlements

09:08of Katerinivka and Novoliubivka, which allowed it to, in the analyst's words,

09:13cut the bulge at last. Territorial control maps following that assault revealed that the Russian

09:18position had been almost entirely wiped out, with Ukrainian forces compressing and condensing it

09:24from almost every direction. And one of the most extraordinary aspects about this entire course

09:29of events is that it went largely unnoticed. Milan noted how media agents, analysts, and even military

09:35officials on both sides said very little about what was happening in this particular part of the

09:40front, though they likely had very different reasons for doing so. The Ukrainians most likely

09:45didn't want to reveal too much information in the public space about their troops' movements and

09:49intentions, especially when they were coming under such a plethora of airstrikes. The Russians,

09:54meanwhile, probably didn't want to acknowledge that their salient stronghold was being eroded,

09:58and there was nothing they could do to stop it. The French analyst even stated that open-source

10:03intelligence experts deliberately avoided sharing some of the information they were tracking,

10:07presumably in order to avoid compromising the Ukrainian mission. It worked. The Ukrainian army was

10:13able to advance and recapture lost terrain, one little piece at a time, and since Russia's high

10:17command either didn't know or didn't fully understand what was happening, the Kremlin's

10:21forces were unable to maintain any control over this valuable patch of land. It was only in early

10:26September, once an estimated 200 square miles of ground had been recaptured by Ukraine,

10:31that reports finally began to emerge. And while Ukrainian officials like Brigadier General Andrey

10:36Beletsky were celebrating, Russian military bloggers were once more forced to criticize and condemn

10:42their country's incompetent commanders for yet another failure. The Rybar channel, for example,

10:47wrote, Ukrainian units have been systematically attacking southwards for several months and have

10:52achieved at least tactical successes. If confirmed, this would mean very serious problems for Russian

10:57forces operating west of the Zerebets river. It cannot be ruled out that the approach to Lehman from

11:02the direction of Zerychna has also been lost. Which leads us neatly to why all of this matters so much.

11:07Obviously, every single square kilometer that Ukraine can recapture matters. It's always a

11:12cause for celebration for Ukrainian soldiers, people and their Western allies when the country's armed

11:17forces managed to push the Russians back and raise their flag over towns and settlements that once

11:22seemed like they'd been lost for good. But not every patch of land is the same, and this one is

11:27particularly valuable. That's why Russia had fought so hard for it for so many years, paying the price of

11:32countless lives and lost assets just to get across the river and start expanding its salient outwards.

11:38And it's why Ukraine was so eager to reclaim it. Now that it has done so, it has effectively forced

11:43Russia right back to square one, cancelling whatever plans Moscow might have had to use the salient as

11:48a launch pad for additional attacks on surrounding cities and Ukrainian fortifications. As EU Observer notes,

11:55this area is strategically important. And if Ukrainians have indeed cleared it out and forced

11:59Russian forces to withdraw, it will help defend major Donbass strongholds such as Slovyansk and

12:04Kramatorsk. On a larger scale map, there was a risk that Russians could use this salient to bypass this

12:10urban area from the north. That possibility is now less likely. Woofers, another online open source

12:16intelligent or OSINT researcher and analyst, agrees, stating, Improving the situation around Liman is

12:21crucial to preventing the bypassing of the belt of fortifications in Donbass. This also has the

12:27added benefit of buying Ukraine more of one of the most important resources of all time. Had Russia

12:32been allowed to solidify and extend its salient, it could quite feasibly have launched strikes on

12:36nearby strategic settlements before the end of this year, which could have paved the way towards a bigger,

12:41broader and more impactful offensive into the northern Donbass. This seemed likely earlier in 2026,

12:48but Ukraine has now reset the clocks. It has undone years of Russian effort, and even if Moscow sends

12:53reinforcements to this region in order to get its forces back over the river, the salient isn't going

12:58to reappear overnight. And that means that any offensive maneuvers towards Liman or other locations

13:03west of the Zerebets will have to wait, maybe until next year. But maybe they'll never even happen

13:09at all. Because this story ties into a much bigger one. The story of Ukraine turning the tide in this

13:14war,

13:15not only in the Liman area, but up and down the hundreds of miles of fiercely contested

13:19frontline territories and beyond. Throughout 2026, we've seen one report after another

13:24detailing Ukrainian victories. Kyiv's troops haven't just slowed down Russian progress in

13:29certain sectors, they've stopped their enemy outright, and as this recent news proves,

13:34regained large amounts of lost land too. They've also carried out the now well-publicized

13:40middle and deep strike campaigns against targets such as Russian oil refineries, supply lines,

13:44shadow fleet tankers, and logistics facilities, slashing the Kremlin's oil supplies, crippling

13:49its economy, and draining Vladimir Putin's war chest dry. And the rest of the world is taking notice.

13:56On September 8, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed that American diplomats and

14:00military officials have openly acknowledged that Ukraine has strengthened its position on the

14:04battlefield and, in turn, gained greater leverage in any negotiations that may soon take place between

14:10Kyiv and Moscow. Ukraine has become stronger on the battlefield, and Ukraine has a stronger

14:15negotiating position. By the way, the American side is also saying this, and their military and

14:19analysts acknowledge it. This is a fact. Zelenskyy went on to detail how the war has shifted over the

14:24last 12 months, with Ukraine rising as Russia is suffering unprecedented losses.

14:29In 2026, since the end of 2025, let's put it this way, we have been strengthening our position on

14:34the battlefield. Russia has many losses and few gains. This is, in principle, roughly the overall

14:40assessment. And those aren't empty words. Ukraine has reached a point where it doesn't need to fear

14:45large or rapid Russian advances on the front lines anywhere near as much as it did in the past.

14:50It's able to dig in and defend its ground much more effectively than ever before, and it has both

14:54the freedom and the capability to hit Russia where it hurts the most, like those aforementioned

14:59refineries, as well as warehouses, airfields, military factories, and other key pieces of

15:04high-value infrastructure. It continues, also, to take out Russian troops and assets at a remarkable

15:09rate, leaving the Kremlin with spiraling casualties, uncontrollable losses, and far more questions than

15:15answers. If and when the time comes for representatives from both sides to sit down at the negotiating

15:21table, Ukraine will, without doubt, have the stronger hand to play, and recapturing 200

15:26square kilometers of land certainly hasn't harmed its chances of getting the deal it both wants and

15:31deserves. You can learn more about Ukraine's triumph and Russia's misery in this video,

15:36which explains the Kremlin's summer of hell in gritty detail. Alternatively, check out this video to

15:42learn more about the situation in Crimea, where Ukraine has found a way to sever the region's fuel

15:46supplies, leading to shortages, blackouts, and widespread panic as Russia slowly loses control.

15:53Don't forget to subscribe to the channel and turn on notifications to make sure you don't miss out on

15:57our latest reports, and consider becoming a member for full and instant access to all of our content,

16:02including in-depth reporting about Russia, Ukraine, and the war in Iran. And thank you, as always, for

16:07watching.

16:08I'll see you next time.

16:08Bye.

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