By Nicholas Earl Russian forces have withdrawn from Lyman, after Ukrainian forces closed in on the Donetsk town. Russia’s Ministry of Defence said: “Allied forces were withdrawn from the settlement of … Lyman to more advantageous lines because of the creation of the threat of encirclement,” Its abandonment of the town is a significant strategic victory for the country and a major setback for the Kremlin in its attempts to gain supremacy over four regions in eastern Ukraine. The statement concluded hours of official silence from Moscow after Ukraine revealed it had surrounded thousands of Russi…