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Russia Intensifies Lyman Assaults With Fresh Troops, Chemical Weapons, Ukrainian Officer Warns
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![Photo of Vlad Litnarovych]( "Photo of Vlad Litnarovych")
Russian assault operations on the Lyman axis remain unpredictable, but when they resume, they come back with overwhelming force, a Ukrainian officer said this week, explained Olena Rozvadovska, deputy chief of staff for the “Mara” drone battalion of the 66th Separate Mechanized Brigade, according to Ukrainian defense media Armyinform on August 20.
After several days of relative calm, Moscow’s troops have sharply intensified their attacks.
“The enemy desperately needs this direction,” she said, noting that Russia’s goal is to encircle Ukrainian defense units.
The attacks follow a familiar pattern: first precision-guided aerial bombs, then heavy artillery, followed by small infantry groups of two to six soldiers.
Unlike earlier waves of convicts mobilized from Russian prisons, Rozvadovska stressed that these are “professional, trained soldiers.”
Even so, she dismissed the idea that Russia’s military deserves praise for its tactics.
“Their only real advantage right now is the use of ammunition banned under the Geneva Conventions—cluster munitions and, increasingly, chemical weapons—which we cannot employ,” Rozvadovska said.
She suggested that Russia is rotating in fresh forces to sustain its pressure on Lyman, pointing to the sheer volume of drones and the intensity of the assaults. Reconnaissance drones, loitering munitions, and FPV systems—especially those connected by fiber optics—are being deployed in large numbers.
“There are a lot of them. Reconnaissance UAVs adjusting artillery fire, drones dropping explosives, FPVs… intelligence reports confirm that dedicated Russian drone units have entered this sector. And it’s also a fact that a permanent Russian army presence remains here,” Rozvadovska added.
Earlier, Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, stated that Russia is regrouping its units and focusing on several axes to prepare fresh offensive operations.
