ISW: Collapse Of Russian Troops In Liman Mousetrap Coming

Shoigu turned out to be unprepared for the encirclement of his grouping.

The AFU has advanced to the west, north and north-east of Liman and is working to complete the encirclement of Russian troops in the town and along the northern bank of the Seversky Donets River.

This is reported by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Analysts inform that Ukrainian soldiers can already strike at the positions and communications that support the Liman grouping of the enemy.

"The collapse of the Liman mousetrap is likely to have serious consequences for the Russian grouping in northern Donetsk and western Luhansk regions and could allow Ukrainian troops to threaten Russian positions along the western border of Luhansk Region and in the Severodonetsk-Lysychansk region," the ISW pointed out.

Shoigu has not prepared the Russians for the loss of Liman

Experts stressed that the Russian Defence Ministry failed to informationally prepare its population for the inevitable defeat in Liman. This is likely to result in a further lowering of the already low morale of Russian citizens.

The Institute for the Study of War explained that after the successful counter-offensive by the AFU in Kharkiv region, this would be another blow that would continue to destroy morale and cause panic among the Russian military.

"The angry reaction of the Russian media space probably played a part in Putin announcing the partial mobilisation shortly after Ukraine's first major counteroffensive in an attempt to reinforce Russian army units," the analysts added.

More about the AFU counteroffensive near Liman

ISW said that Ukrainian forces continued to make significant progress around Liman on September 28, advancing from the north along the Zelena Dolina-Kolodyazy arc and from the southeast near Yampil. So, the AFU:

took control of Zelena Dolina (15km north of Liman) and advanced east to take control of Kolodyazy (11km north-east of Liman);

advanced southeast of Kolodiazy and are fighting in the vicinity of Torske, just 12km northeast of Liman;

amassed near Yampil (13 km south-east of Liman) and broke through Russian defensive lines there to advance on Torske from the south-west;

attacked Shandrigolove, about 10 km northwest of Liman;

liberated Novoselivka, south of Shandrigolove and 10km northwest of Liman;

are attempting to take control of the Svatove-Liman road, now a critical ground line of communication (GLOC) for the Russian grouping in Liman.