Footage taken near the Donetsk Oblast city of Lyman on Wednesday, October 5, shows burned out vehicles scattered along a road leading out of the city.

Footage by Sergio Olmos shows various items, including military fatigues, strewn along the road near the vehicles.

Russian forces retreated from Lyman, a strategically important city, after a Ukrainian counter-offensive nearly encircled it, Russian state media reported, citing defense officials.

A spokesman for the Ukrainian military said as many as 3,000 Russian troops had been stationed in Lyman, the New York Times reported. Many were killed in the chaos of the retreat, the spokesman said.

The withdrawal came just days after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the annexation of Donetsk and three other partially occupied Ukrainian oblasts. Credit: Sergio Olmos via Storyful