KYIV, Ukraine

Thousands of Russian soldiers are encircled by Ukrainian forces in Lyman city in the Donetsk region, a Ukrainian official said on Saturday.

“Nearly 5,000 Russian soldiers ended up in '#Lyman Cauldron'," Serhiy Hayday, the governor of the Luhansk regional administration, said on Twitter.

The Ukrainian forces have “blocked almost all the ways of leaving and transporting ammunition to Russians,” Hayday said.

"After the de-occupation of Liman, #Luhansk region is the next," he added.

Serhiy Cherevaty, a spokesman for the eastern group of Ukrainian armed forces, said that Ukrainian troops have taken back the control of Yampil, Novoselivka, Shandryholove, Drobysheve and Stavky settlements near Lyman.

Ukrainian army’s advance toward Lyman city continues. The city has been under the control of Russian forces for a long time.

On Friday, Cherevaty said that the encirclement of Russian troops in Lyman is at the completion stage.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday announced the annexation of four Ukrainian regions.

On Sept. 23 - 27, the Ukrainian separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk and Russian-controlled parts of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson held referendums on joining Russia.

The referendums have been condemned by the international community, with European nations and the US calling them a "sham" and saying that they will not be recognized.