Bombardments have intensified after Moscow illegally annexed a swath of Ukrainian territory in a sharp escalation of the war.“In connection with the creation of a threat of encirclement, the allied troops were withdrawn from the settlement of Krasny Lyman to more favourable lines,” Russia’s defence ministry said in its daily briefing.Ukraine also was making “incremental” gains around Kupiansk and the eastern bank of the Oskil River, which became a key front line since the Ukrainian counteroffensive regained control of the Kharkiv region in September.In its heaviest barrage in weeks, Russia’s military on Friday pounded Ukrainian cities with missiles, rockets and kamikaze drones.Russia now claims sovereignty over 15 percent of Ukraine in what NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called “the largest attempted annexation of European territory by force since the second world war”."