hello and welcome if you re watching in the uk or around the world. the russian ministry of defence says its troops have left the strategic town of lemann, in eastern ukraine. a ministry spokesman was quoted by russian news agencies as saying the withdrawal was carried out because of a threat of encirclement. earlier, the ukrainian military said its troops were inside the town. lyman was a key strategic target used by russia as a major logistics hub and sits in the donetsk region which the government in moscow has just declared to be a part of russia. video footage shared online shows ukrainian soldiers waving their national flag on the outskirts of lyman. we cannot however verify exactly where the flag raising is taking place. alina frolova is a former deputy defence minister of ukraine and is now the deputy chairman of the centre for defence strategy think tank. she told me more about the significance of this development. you know, that yesterday russia declared its so call
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