Kyiv: Although Russia declared annexation of Donetsk along with three other regions Friday, its forces are in fear of being encircled by Ukrainian forces in Layman in Ukraine' east.
Indicating its loosening grip over Ukraine, contrary to it claims of annexing four regions, Russia said it had abandoned its bastion of Lyman, according to Reuters.
The leader of Chechnya and a close Kremlin ally, Ramzan Kadyrov who called himself a footsoldier of President Putin urged Moscow to consider using a low-yield nuclear weapons.
Writing in Telegram, Ramzan Kadyrov said more drastic measures required like low-intensity nuclear weapons alongside declaration of martial law in the border areas.
Despite the apparent setback, the Russian defence ministry didn't mention troop encirclement in its statement.
In the thick of the emerging crisis, a spokesperson for Ukraine's eastern forces Serhii Cherevatyi acknowledged that Russian forces are being surrounded by Ukrainian forces.
"He said that Russia had had 5,000 to 5,500 troops at Lyman but the number of encircled troops could be lower because of casualties." Reuters reported.
For long, Lyman remained a logistics and transport hub for Russia's invasive operations in the north of Donetsk region which Russian claimed to be annexing.
The fall of this strategic place to Ukrainian forces suggest that Russian forces are not in best shape to quell Ukraine's emergence, while fall of Lyman is the biggest battlefield gain to Ukraine.
Moscow announced the capture of Lyman in July after weeks of lumbering military progress in the region.
The spokesperson for Ukrainian military believes that fall of Lyman would allow Kyiv to advance into the Luhansk region.
Reuters reported Ukraine's exiled governor of Luhansk as saying that Russian forces had requested for a safe exit out of the encirclement, which Ukraine rejected.