Ukrainian soldiers are exulting in their smashing of Russian lines in the northeast. They engaged enemy troops up close, and gained confidence from it.
Outside the city of Lyman, Ukrainian troops ran across a 69-year-old Soviet veteran. He was placed in an improvised blindfold. All were enveloped in the fog of war.
Without access to electricity, radios or the internet, residents of Lyman said they were unaware of President Vladimir V. Putin’s grandiose celebration of an illegal land grab.