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| Photo: Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images |
Wagner paramilitary fighters struggle to advance across river in Bakhmut
Russian forces staged multiple attacks on the eastern city of Bakhmut on Sunday in a bid to gain new ground, while Ukrainian forces defending the city were fighting to prevent being cut off after months of grinding combat.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that 1,100 enemy soldiers had been killed on the battlefield around Bakhmut during the past week alone.
Ukrainian forces withdrew from the eastern side of the river that cuts through Bakhmut last week, taking up more easily defensible positions in the western part of the city.
But Russian advances around the city’s northern and southern flanks are squeezing Ukraine’s remaining supply lines into the city from the west.
The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said on Sunday that Russian forces had attacked 15 villages on the Bakhmut front over the past day. “The Russians did not stop storming the city of Bakhmut,” it said on social media.
Despite the risk of encirclement and heavy casualties, Ukraine’s leadership has vowed to continue defending the city, seeking to grind down Russian forces and buy time to prepare for a planned offensive of its own.
Mr. Zelensky said on Sunday that more than 10 Russian ammunition depots and dozens of pieces of their equipment had been eliminated around Bakhmut. In addition to the soldiers who were killed, he said that 1,500 Russian soldiers had been wounded and would no longer be capable of fighting. --->READ MORE HERE
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| AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka |
Russia’s advance seems to have stalled in Moscow’s campaign to capture the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, a leading think tank said in an assessment of the longest ground battle of the war.
The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said there were no confirmed advances by Russian forces in Bakhmut. Russian forces and units from the Kremlin-controlled paramilitary Wagner Group continued to launch ground attacks in the city, but there was no evidence that they were able to make any progress, the ISW said.
The founder of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said Sunday on the Telegram messaging app that the situation in Bakhmut was “difficult, very difficult, with the enemy fighting for each meter.”
The ISW report issued Saturday cited the spokesperson of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ Eastern Group, Serhii Cherevaty, who said that fighting in the Bakhmut area had been more intense this week than the previous one. According to Cherevaty, there were 23 clashes in the city over the previous 24 hours
The ISW’s report comes following claims of Russian progress earlier this week. The U.K. Defense Ministry said Saturday that paramilitary units from the Kremlin-controlled Wagner Group had seized most of eastern Bakhmut, with a river flowing through the city now marking the front line of the fighting. The assessment highlighted that Russia’s assault will be difficult to sustain without more significant personnel losses.
The mining city of Bakhmut is located in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk province, one of four regions of Ukraine that Russian President Vladimir Putin illegally annexed last year. Russia’s military opened the campaign to take control of Bakhmut in August, and both sides have experienced staggering casualties. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has vowed not to retreat. --->READ MORE HEREFollow links below to +++++relevant+++++ and related stories:
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