Ukraine has sent reinforcements to Bakhmut, a senior Ukrainian official said on Wednesday, signaling the intensity of fighting in a city that has become a smelter in the east of the country as Russian forces gradually tighten their grip. tight encirclement.
Speaking on Ukrainian television, the official, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar, did not say how many troops had been sent or for what purpose. It is unclear whether reinforcements may be needed to provide cover or logistical support in the event of a Ukrainian withdrawal, or if they may be part of efforts to continue to defend Bakhmut and possibly to retain the troops. Russian forces so that they cannot redeploy to other battles or not.
Ukrainian soldiers held out for months in Bakhmut, where the death toll on both sides was staggering. Russian forces, including a large number of newly mobilized recruits, have been herded to the eastern front lines, giving Ukraine the opportunity to inflict thousands of casualties and even pay dearly for the wars. their own soldiers.
Russia has maintained more combat deaths in the first year of the war compared with all the conflicts it has been involved in since World War II combined, including Chechnya and Afghanistan, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a research organization Washington-based research.
Kyiv used his resistance as a symbol of the country’s broader defiance a year after Russia launched an all-out invasion. But in recent weeks, Russian reinforcements have helped Moscow capture the villages and towns around Bakhmut and besiege the city from three sides.
“The most difficult situation remains Bakhmut and the battles that are important for the defense of the city,” Zelensky said Tuesday in his nightly address, the second day in a row that he addressed the issues. faced by the defenders of the city. “The intensity of the battle has only increased.”
On Monday, he said that Russian forces were destroying anything that could serve as a shelter for forces fighting to defend the city. “The situation is becoming more and more difficult,” he said in his nightly address that day. “The enemy is constantly destroying everything that can be used to secure our positions, to gain ground and secure our defense.”
Much of the fighting in and around Bakhmut has been waged by the troops of the Wagner Group, a mercenary force whose leader, Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, has close ties to Russian President Vladimir V. Putin.
Prigozhin said Wednesday in an audio message on social media that there was no sign that Ukrainian forces were withdrawing from the city. Moscow turned its attention to capturing Bakhmut last summer after capturing two cities in the nearby Luhansk region, but the battle for the city is now the longest of the all-out war. Both sides suffered heavy casualties.
Russia is trying to encircle Bakhmut, using their “best” and “best trained and most experienced” troops from the Wagner group, Ukraine’s economic adviser, Alexander Rodnyansky, said in an interview with CNN on Tuesday.
“Our military will obviously consider all options,” he said. “So far, they have held the city, but if need be, they will retreat strategically because we are not going to sacrifice all our people for nothing.”
He stressed that the decision on whether to withdraw is up to the country’s military.
As Ukrainian officials pondered Bakhmut’s fate, the situation on the ground became increasingly dangerous.
“Things are getting pretty rough,” a soldier fighting for Ukraine in the city said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.
Currently, Russian forces are concentrating their offensive power on the western and southern suburbs of the city, in an attempt to cut off two roads leading into the city, he said. If the Russians managed to close the roads, the Ukrainian formation in Bakhmut would properly be stuck.
The soldier said both roads are coming under intense fire from Russian artillery and anti-tank guided missiles, and sometimes Russian machine guns.
Ukraine’s military is fighting furiously to ensure that roads remain clear, but it is unclear how long they can hold off Russian advances.
“Never back down is the motto,” said the soldier.
