The gains showed that Kyiv continues to recapture occupied territory on the same day that President Vladimir Putin and his rubber-stamp parliament sought to formalize increasingly far-fetched claims to annex four Ukrainian regions. “The commanders of the Ukrainian armed forces in the south and east are creating problems in the Russian chain of command faster than the Russians can respond effectively,” said a Western official who spoke on condition of anonymity to brief reporters on sensitive security information. . “And it exacerbates the existing dysfunction in the Russian invasion force.” The Washington Post’s Isabelle Khurshudyan goes inside the recently liberated town of Lyman, which was captured by Russian forces a few days earlier. (Video: Whitney Shefte/The Washington Post) Ukraine is pushing to take back as much of its occupied territory as it can before Russia potentially sends hundreds of thousands of reinforcements to the battlefield, following a recent mobilization effort. The Ukrainian counteroffensive, which had moved much more slowly in the south compared to the lightning push in the northeastern Kharkiv region in September, has suddenly picked up speed, with Russian units retreating in recent days from a large area along its western bank the river Dnieper. Ukrainian forces advanced dozens of miles into the southern Kherson region, liberating towns and villages and recreating scenes from mid-September, when they swept into Kharkiv and were greeted by happy residents who had spent many months under Russian occupation. On Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry spokesman acknowledged that Ukraine’s “senior tank units” were “entrenched in the depth of our defense line” near the villages of Zolota Balka and Oleksandrivka in the Kherson region. Overnight, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine’s 129th brigade from his home town of Kryvyi Rih had liberated the settlements of Arkhanhelske and Myrolyubivka. A video shared on social media posted by soldiers of the 35th Marine Infantry Brigade of the Ukrainian Navy showed the capture of Davydiv Brid, which dealt a major blow to Russian supply lines in the Kherson region. Regaining control of Kherson, a rich agricultural region whose capital is a major port where the Dnieper flows into the Black Sea, is critical for Ukraine. The capital was the first major city captured by Russia at the start of its invasion last February, and its loss would be a serious setback for Russia — strategically crippling for the military and politically humiliating for Putin. Four regions where it was directed referendums for joining Russia were carried out Area held from Russia- supported separatists since 2014 Annexed by Russia in 2014 Control areas from October 3rd Sources: Institute for the Study of War, AEI’s Critical Threats Project Ukrainian reclaimed area through counterattacks Four regions where it was directed referendums on accession to Russia were carried out Area held by supported by Russia separatists since 2014 Annexed by Russia in 2014 Control areas from October 3rd Sources: Institute for the Study of War, AEI’s Critical Threats Project Ukrainian reclaimed area through counterattacks Four regions where it was directed referendums on accession to Russia were carried out Area held by supported by Russia separatists since 2014 Annexed by Russia in 2014 Sources: Institute for the Study of War Kherson is the only position the Russians hold west of the Dnieper and a potential strategic springboard for Russia to launch any future offensive up the Black Sea coast towards the historic port city of Odessa. Ukrainian officials had touted an operation to liberate Kherson for months, possibly pulling Russian troops out of Kharkiv and allowing Ukrainian gains in the northeast. But until now Ukrainian forces had struggled in the south, suffering heavy losses but making few territorial advances. Denying annexation, Ukrainian forces advance from Liman to Luhansk The Ukrainian gains in Kherson follow the weekend recapture of the strategic Lyman transit hub in eastern Donetsk. Ukrainian forces surrounded the city, killing some of the retreating Russian soldiers whose bodies piled up on the roadsides. The Ukrainians then pressed Lyman, apparently intent on extending their gains to Luhansk, the region where Russia has maintained its strongest grip. Video released by the Ukrainian government on October 1 shows soldiers raising the flag near Liman. Kyiv claims it has advanced on the Russian-controlled city. (Video: The Washington Post) The collapse of the Russian position in Liman was notable because it occurred just as Putin was claiming that the city and the entire Donetsk region, along with Luhansk, Kherson, and Zharpoizia, had been annexed and restored to Russia as part of its historic territories. . But unlike Kharkiv where Moscow ordered a retreat, Russian forces had apparently been called in to defend Liman. “All Russian forces withdrew in bad order, taking heavy casualties from artillery fire as they tried to leave the city to the east,” the Western official said of Liman, comparing it to Kharkiv. “Then, as you recall, the troops were ordered to cede the ground,” the official said. “But at Lyman we believe that Russian troops retreated despite orders to defend and remain” “Abandoning this area is exactly what the Kremlin did not want to happen,” the official said. As a result, Russian control over the Luhansk region, which has been largely uncontested since June, is now also in jeopardy. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington-based think tank, said the geospatial material confirmed claims by Russian military sources that Ukrainian troops are continuing their advance east of Liman, apparently preparing for a battle for city ​​of Kreminna. The new round of Russian setbacks has revived the debate over the Kremlin’s strategy among pro-Russian military bloggers, who for months have provided a more detailed and less censored look at the Russian war campaign than official military accounts. “Now they accuse me of driving people into depression with my news,” Komsomlskaya Pravda newspaper military correspondent Alexander Kots wrote on his Telegram blog, which has more than 600,000 subscribers, on Tuesday. “Well, there will be no good news in the near future either from the Kherson front, or from now Luhansk.” “In many areas fatigue has set in after a long offensive period, during which large areas of territory were liberated,” Kots added. “But there is no longer any strength to hold them.” Videos posted by Russia’s independent broadcaster Astra show pro-Russian fighters from the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic camping in the open field and complaining that Russian commanders had abandoned them as they retreated. In the videos, a man in worn fatigues said Russian casualties in the area were huge, with only 193 survivors and a few pieces of heavy equipment left from their original convoy. The Washington Post could not independently verify the video clips. Another popular Russian war blogger, Rybar with nearly a million followers, published maps showing how the Russian occupation of the Kherson region shrank dramatically in just a few hours. Losing the west bank of the Dnieper River to Ukrainian control would be an “imminent danger” to the remaining Russian units in the region, Rybar wrote. As Russia retreated on the battlefield, Zelensky on Tuesday signed a decree formally refusing any negotiation with Putin – a largely symbolic move to show Kiev’s confidence in how things are going on the battlefield. Meanwhile, the political theater of annexation continued in Moscow, where the Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian parliament, sealed Putin’s annexation of four Ukrainian regions. Putin and other officials have warned that Russia will feel entitled to defend its newly captured territories by any means possible, including possibly using nuclear weapons. In two more staggered votes, the Russian parliament moves to ratify the annexation The annexation legislation now returns to the Kremlin for Putin’s final signature, which from Russia’s perspective will complete the process of seizing more than 15 percent of all Ukrainian sovereign territory. Officials said Putin was likely to sign on Tuesday, but what might come next was anyone’s guess. On Monday, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov admitted he did not know the exact borders of the newly annexed territories and said Russian officials would continue to “consult” with the local population on how far Russian control would extend in Kherson and Zaporizhia . Putin’s brazen attempt at a land grab was met with overwhelming international condemnation. Even countries with traditionally closer ties to Moscow, such as Turkey and Serbia, have joined the West in refusing to recognize the results of the so-called referendums. In what appeared to be a linking of arms of the pariah states, North Korea said it would recognize Russia’s new borders. According to Russia’s state-run TASS news agency, Pyongyang said Tuesday it supports “the position of the Russian…