Russian MoD confirms seizing strategic town of Krasny Liman

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The Russian Armed Forces confirmed on Saturday that it seized the strategic town of Krasny Liman in the Donetsk People's Republic, on the road to two key cities still under Kiev's control.

In a statement, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that "following the joint actions of the units of the militia of the Donetsk People's Republic and the Russian armed forces, the town of Liman has been entirely liberated from Ukrainian nationalists."

In a different context, Russian investigators have arrived in Kherson to launch a probe into alleged cases of torture in the region perpetrated by Ukrainian militants, as well as the shelling of the area via Tochka-U missiles, Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the regional military-civilian administration, said.

It is noteworthy that Russia had captured the entire Kherson region in the south of the country and part of the southeastern Zaporozhye region and established military-civilian administrations there after the start of the war in Ukraine.

There were reports that Kherson's local authorities intended to request it become part of Russia following the completion of all integration processes.

Vladimir Rogov, a member of the main council of Zaporozhye's military-civilian administration, told Sputnik that after being completely freed from Ukrainian nationalists, the region will plan to become part of Russia. 

"The Zaporozhye region is a historically Russian territory. The return of the region under the control of the Kiev regime, no matter what they say there, is out of the question, just as holding talks with them," Rogov said.  

Russia shows off Zircon hypersonic cruise missile

In another context, Russia successfully test-fired a hypersonic Zircon cruise missile over a distance of about 1,000 km (625 miles), the Defense Ministry said on Saturday.

According to the report, the missile was launched from the Barents Sea and struck a target in the White Sea. The Ministry published a video of the missile being fired from a ship and blasting into the sky on a steep trajectory.

The Zircon, according to President Vladimir Putin, is part of a new generation of unparalleled weapons systems. Hypersonic missiles can move at nine times the speed of sound, and Russia has tested the Zircon from warships and submarines in the past year.