Russia fires another general as Ukraine forces continue to advance across two fronts

Russia fired a top general on Monday as its forces retreated on two fronts in the face of fresh Ukrainian breakthroughs.

Colonel-General Alexander Zhuravlyov, the head of the Western Military District, was replaced by Lieutenant-General Roman Berdnikov, Russia's RBC reported on Monday.

The move comes amid intensifying criticism of the ministry of defence following the collapse of Russian forces in the Kharkiv region last month and the loss of the strategic Donetsk region town of Lyman this weekend.

A soldier recently returned from the fighting in eastern Kharkiv region told the Telegraph that the Russians appeared to be "running" and had either not tried or had failed to set up defensive lines.

The withdrawals saw Russian forces abandoning positions in the Kherson and Donetsk regions that Vladimir Putin, the Russian president declared were a part of Russia on Friday.

A sudden Ukrainian attack along the western bank of the Dnipro river liberated several settlements and raised fears on Russian war bloggers about a collapse on the Kherson front.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces in the north east of the country advanced several miles after the Russians failed to establish a new defensive line following the fall of Liman on the weekend.

Russian MPs on Monday unanimously ratified Mr Putin’s decree annexing the Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk and Donetsk regions despite the battlefield setback.

However, the Kremlin said it had not decided how much land it was actually claiming.

Dmitry Peskov, Mr Putin’s spokesman, said that the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, where Russia previously set up puppet “people’s republics” would join Russia in their entirety but that the deliberation of the new Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions had not been decided.

"We will continue to discuss that with residents of those regions," Dmitry Peskov said in a conference call with reporters.

Russian bloggers

Pro-Russian Telegram channels reported a Ukrainian tank attack had seized the village of Zolota Balka in the Kherson region on Sunday night.

"The information is tense, let's put it that way, because, yes there were indeed breakthroughs," Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-installed leader in occupied parts of Kherson, told Russian state television.

"There's a settlement called Dudchany, right along the Dnipro River, and right there, in that region, there was a breakthrough.”

Dudchany lies some 20 miles south of the previous frontline. It was not immediately clear how far the Ukrainians had reached, however.

Media outlets on Monday highlighted an image of Ukrainian troops displaying flags at a marker for Khreshchenivka, which neighbours Zolota Balka.

Others said Ukrainian forces reached a place called Mykhailivka, representing an advance of about eight miles.

The Ukrainian general staff did not comment on the reported gains but Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, said troops had entered the villages of Mirolyubivka and Akhengelsk, further west on the same part of the frontline.

Kirill Stremousov, a Russian-installed official in the Kherson region, said in a video statement on Monday morning that the Ukrainian forces "have broken through a little deeper" but that "everything is under control".

A sustained Ukrainian advance in Kherson would be Russia’s third major defeat in a month and make a significant shift in the tempo of the war in the south.

Unlike in Kharkiv, Russia has so far largely succeeded in holding back Ukrainian counter attacks in Kherson.

It came amid renewed Ukrainian advances in the northeast following the liberation of the Donetsk region town of Lyman over the weekend.

Ukrainian forces reached Torske to the east of Liman on Sunday and reported to be pushing on in the direction of Kreminna, the Luhansk region town Russian elements retreated to over the weekend.

In the Kharkiv region, Ukrainian forces were photographed in the villages of Borova and Shykyivka on Monday, further expanding a bridgehead on the eastern side of the Oskil river and threatening Svatove, the railway junction that supplies Kreminna.

Igor “Strelkov” Girkin, an ultra-nationalist commentator with connections in the military and security services, wrote on Telegram that Russian forces in the Kharkiv region were “retreating without a fight” because it was impossible to hold the thickly wooded terrain there.

“The armed forces of Ukraine continue to “wind up” our front along the Oskol reservoir towards Svatove,” he wrote, adding: “Pray to God the enemy fails to fully realise the significant advantage he now has.”

Ramzan Kadyrov, the president of Chechnya and a key ally of Mr Putin, said he was sending his three teenage sons to fight in Ukraine.

On Saturday, Mr Kadyrov became the first senior Russian official to openly advocate the use of tactical nuclear weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine.

Mr Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, refused to endorse those calls on Monday.

"This is a very emotional moment," he said on a briefing call with journalists. "In our country, the use of nuclear weapons happens only on the basis of what is stated in the relevant doctrine.”