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STORY: There've been further reports of chaos in Russia's mobilization for Ukraine, less than two weeks after President Vladimir Putin announced it.

According to the governor of the Khabarovsk region in Russia's Far East on Monday (October 3), about half the men called up there were found unfit for duty and sent home.

Mikhail Degtyarev also fired the region's military commissar.

"In 10 days, several thousand of our countrymen received summons and arrived at the military registration and enlistment offices. About half of them we returned home as they did not meet the criteria for entering the military service. The work to achieve the goals set by the president continues."

Tens of thousands of Russian men were suddenly called up into the military and tens of thousands of others have fled abroad.

The governor's comments followed a major Ukrainian breakthrough at the weekend, when its forces retook Lyman, the main Russian bastion in the north of Donetsk province.

In another setback for Moscow, a Russian-installed official confirmed more Ukrainian advances along the west bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson on Monday.

By Monday afternoon, Ukraine's defense ministry had confirmed only the recapture of one village close to the previous front line.

Reuters was not able to independently verify the authenticity of the video, the date it was filmed and the location of the footage.

Kherson is among four occupied Ukrainian regions whose annexation Russia declared following hastily organized votes that Ukraine and the West denounced as coercive and illegitimate.

The lower house of Russia's parliament approved laws on the annexation on Monday. No opposition had been expected.

More than seven months into a war that has killed tens of thousands, even Moscow's basic aims are far from achieved.

Lyman especially touched a nerve - prompting a Putin ally to publicly ridicule the military top brass, which is rare in modern Russia.

Ramzan Kadyrov, leader of the Russian republic of Chechnya, who has sent many of his own units to fight in Ukraine, called for the region's commander to be stripped of his medals and sent to the frontline - to wash away his shame with blood.

He also condemned what he called nepotism in the army, saying talentless mediocrities were letting the country down.