LYMAN, Ukraine - The bodies of two Russian soldiers lay bloating in trees on opposite sides of the road, close to the blasted hulks of the cars and the van in which Ukrainian army officers said the dead men's unit was retreating into the eastern town of Lyman.
The bodies, the ruined vehicles and carpets of bullets, torn uniforms and metal shards testified on Wednesday tothat has reclaimed parts of Donetsk province overrun by Russian forces earlier this year. Occasional crumps echoed from distant fighting between retreating Russians and Ukrainian troops advancing towards a highway leading north to the Russian border and south to the city of Sievierodonetsk from which Kyiv's forces withdrew in June.
"We know that there has been torture. We still have our work to do," he said, standing outside a police station storeroom crammed with furniture that he charged the Russians had looted and eventually planned to take to Russia with them.