Russia’s defense ministry reported that the Wagner private army backed by Russian troops had seized Bakhmut. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, meanwhile, said the city was not being occupied by Russian forces.
The fog of war made it impossible to confirm the situation on the ground Sunday in the invasion’s longest battle: Russia’s defense ministry reported that the Wagner private army backed by Russian troops had seized the city. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, meanwhile, said Bakhmut was not being occupied by Russian forces.Regardless, the small city has long had more symbolic than strategic value for both sides.
Fought over so fiercely by Russia and Ukraine in recent months has been the urban area itself, where this week Ukrainian commanders conceded that Moscow controlled more than 90%. But even now, Ukrainian forces are making significant advances near strategic roads through the countryside just outside, chipping away at Russia’s northern and southern flanks by the meter with the aim of encircling Wagner fighters inside the city.
“The main idea is to exhaust them, then to attack,” Ukrainian Col. Yevhen Mezhevikin, commander of a specialized group fighting in Bakhmut, said Thursday. Ukrainian forces in the outskirts of Bakhmut and in the city bore relentless artillery attacks until a month ago. Then, Ukrainian forces positioned south of the city spotted their chance for a breakthrough after reconnaissance drones showed the the southern Russian flank had gone on the defensive, Col. Mezhevikin said.
“Previously we were only holding the lines and didn’t let Russians advance further into our territory. What has happened now is our first advance ,” Maliar said. Russia’s artillery dominance is so overwhelming, accompanied by continuous human waves of mercenaries, that defensive positions could not be held for long.
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‘Exhaust them’: Why Ukraine has fought Russia for every inch of Bakhmut, despite high costThe nine-month battle for Bakhmut has destroyed the 400-year-old city in eastern Ukraine and killed tens of thousands of people in a mutually devastating demonstration of Ukraine's strategy of exhausting the Russian military.
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Russian private army head claims control of Bakhmut but Ukraine says fighting continuesThe head of the Russian private army Wagner claims his forces have taken control of the city of Bakhmut after the longest and most grinding battle of the Russia-Ukraine war, but Ukrainian defense o…
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