The fate of the war in Ukraine is decided in the battle of Bakhmut, where Ukrainian troops have recovered in a few days part of the territory lost during more than nine months of fighting for the heart of Donbass due to the passivity of the Russian army.
“For example, in recent days our troops habout 20 square kilometers were released north and south of the suburbs of Bakhmut,” Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar wrote on her Telegram channel on Tuesday.
Given the clear division between the top Russian military and Wagner’s mercenaries, the Ukrainians decided to launch a counterattack against Bakhmut, which has become something of a microcosm of the war in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Russia’s defense ministry has admitted it is on the defensive outside Bakhmut, but on the offensive inside the city itself, where the Ukrainians control only a handful of land to the west.
Bakhmut’s microcosm
The fate of this battle will, one way or another, a huge impact on the general counter-offensive that kyiv has been preparing for months.
“You are writing our last story. The new page of our war that started three days ago when we went on the offensive,” Oleksandr Syrsky, commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, told Bakhmut’s defenders.
Syrsky personally harangued those troops during a visit to the city, in which he assured that “Wagnerians now they feel like mice in a mousetrap, while our forces continue their offensive from the north and south. And those attacks are successful.”
“With your actions they stunned the entire Russian army, since the Russians do not know where the general counteroffensive is taking place, what is happening in the vicinity of Bakhmut, which they considered to be theirs and said that he was practically surrounded. And now the situation is completely different,” he said.
“The fact that Bakhmut’s defense has been going on for several months and that there is progress in some areas is a reflection of the supreme effort of our soldiers and the high level of professionalism of the high command,” Malyar said.
According to British intelligence, also the stabilization of the flanks by Ukraine it enabled him to secure supply routes from the city of Chasiv Yar.
Wagner’s feat
Meanwhile, the men of the Wagner Group continue to advance inch by inch through the streets of Bakhmut, despite the alarming shortage of ammunition.
“The resistance is fierce. In any case, here they (Ukrainians) fight as they can”Commented Yevgueni Prigozhin, head of the Wagners, in a video posted on Telegram, in which he marks on the map the last enemy positions west and southwest of the city.
The Wagnerians advanced as much as 220 meters last day and already occupy an area of 105,000 square meters, so the Ukrainians control only 11 of 48 tall buildings in western Bakhmut.
“Under enemy control 1.59 square kilometers remain”added Prigozhin.
Malyar herself acknowledged that the Russian units “advance slightly into Bakhmut itself, a city completely destroyed by artillery.”
“Also, the enemy it is mobilizing experienced airborne troops“, Exactly.
As for the suburbs, the Russian military spokesman, Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov, highlighted in his daily report that “the most complicated situation” occurs in the area of the town of Krásnoye (Ivanivske), south-west of Bakhmut.
Russian units pushed back in the last 24 hours up to a dozen attacks of the enemy army at Ivanivske, where the Russian air force would have destroyed an access route for Ukrainian reinforcements, he specified.
Kiev bombing
While the bloodiest fighting is concentrated in the east, in Russia he returned to Hammer kyiv for the eighth time since the beginning of the month.
According to local authorities, it was an “exceptional” attack.“, both due to its size and density, as it involved the use of modern Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, Kalibr cruise missiles and a multitude of drones in a short period of time.
Apart from three wounded, the Ukrainian anti-aircraft forces said they shot down all the shells fired during the early morning.
Konashenkov did note, however, that one of the Russian Kinzhals destroyed a US-made Patriot anti-aircraft battery.
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.