Kyiv, 1 October 2022 (dpa/MIA) — Ukrainian troops have encircled about 5,000 Russian soldiers in the strategically important eastern city of Lyman, a top regional official loyal to Kyiv said on Saturday. "The occupiers trapped in Lyman asked the Russian command to allow them to leave the city, but were refused," said Serhiy Haidai, Ukrainian governor of Luhansk. Haidai said the soldiers' plea was rejected. "They now have three courses of action: either they can try to break through or surrender, or they die all together. There are about 5,000 of them, there is no exact number." There has never been such a large number of Russians encircled so far in the war, Haidai said. Western military experts have said they expect Lyman to be liberated by Ukrainian forces in the coming days, in what would be another in a string of blows to Russian President Vladimir Putin's floundering seven-month-old invasion. Putin annexed the occupied parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson regions on Friday but no state has recognized the breach of international law. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says all territory occupied by Russia will be liberated. To do so, he is relying on heavy weapons from the West and military advisors from NATO countries. Zelensky thanked US President Joe Biden on Saturday for Washington's latest allocation of money to the war effort, this time worth $12.35 billion. The funds will benefit Ukraine's defense programs and budget, Zelensky wrote. "This help is more important today than ever. We must continue to jointly oppose the aggression of the Russian Federation!" he tweeted.