After months of siege and fierce fighting between the Ukrainian defenders and the Russian attackers, the troops of ruler Vladimir Putin are apparently preparing to storm Bakhmut. The city is already surrounded on three sides and the only supply route to the west is under Russian fire.
The General Staff of the Ukrainian army reported in its daily situation report on Thursday that Ukrainian troops had repelled attacks on Bakhmut and other settlements in the Donetsk region, but also added that Russian units were advancing and are now “storming” Bakhmut.
Russia sends “wave after wave”
Russia is sending “wave after wave” of fighters into the city, Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov described the events and added that the situation was “critical”. “The enemy is trying to cut off the supply routes for our troops in Bakhmut and stop all movements there,” Zhdanov said. With its relentless attacks, Russia is trying to drive Ukrainian troops from the eastern bank of the Bakhmutska River, which flows through the city from south to north.
Russians drive soldiers up “like on an assembly line”.
According to Zhdanov, Russian troops could not take the city in bloody street battles or frontal assaults, but only through a complete encirclement. After months of fighting, the Russian units are now not far from it. “They are exerting enormous pressure, with wave after wave of attacks.” Truck after truck brings new soldiers to the front lines and collects the wounded. “This process is constant — like an assembly line — around the clock,” says Schdanow.
For Russia, the capture of Bakhmut would be an important step towards full control of the Donbass, one of the main objectives of the invasion a year ago on February 24, and the first major success in about half a year.
Battle for Bachmut for seven months
The battle for Bakhmut began about seven months ago, but in recent weeks Russian advances from three sides have left the defenders with only one way out to the west. Thousands of civilians are still in the devastated city, which had a population of some 70,000 before the war.
Not everyone in Ukraine is convinced that the defense of the city can continue indefinitely. “I think sooner or later we will probably have to leave Bachmut. There is no point in keeping it at all costs,” Ukrainian MP Sergei Rachmanin told Ukraine’s NV radio on Wednesday night. “But at the moment Bakhmut is being defended with several goals – first, to inflict as many casualties on Russia as possible and let it use its ammunition and resources,” he added, emphasizing that no line of defense should collapse.
Dead in rocket attack on apartment building in Zaporizhia
Four people were killed in a Russian missile attack on the city of Zaporizhia in southern Ukraine, police said. At least eight people were injured when the rocket hit a five-story building Thursday night. Eleven people were rescued alive from the rubble, including a pregnant woman.
Source: Krone
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