Ukraine seeks to stop Russia’s advance beyond Bakhmut, and Moscow sees victory approaching

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy clarified that Ukraine intends to wear down Russian forces in Bakhmut so that they do not continue their offensive against other Ukrainian strongholds in the Donbass as Moscow continues its slow advance into the city, where it controls more territory every day.

“We understand that after bahmut (Russians) can go further. They could go to Kramatorsk, they could go to Slavyansk, that would be the road for the Russians after bahmut get to other cities Ukrainetowards the Donetsk region,” Zelensky explained in an interview with CNN.

Fight to the end

Thus, the Ukrainian president defended his decision to leave his country’s troops in the besieged city, where an unknown number of soldiers on both sides died and whose population was reduced from 70,000 to less than 5,000 inhabitants.

“It’s a tactical issue for us,” Zelenskiy said, before insisting that his top military commanders unanimously support an extension of the city’s defenses after weeks of continuous Russian attacks.

Zelenskiy said his motives for saving the city are “very different” from those Russia.

“We understand that Russia I want to get there. Russia need at least some victory, a small victory, let him ruin everything in bahmutjust killing all the civilians there,” he denounced.

To show the commitment of the authorities to the defense of the city, this Wednesday there will be a new visit to bahmut Alexander Syrsky, Commander of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the fourth in the last two weeks.

At the same time, the Ukrainian government ordered on Wednesday the mandatory evacuation of children who still remain in the besieged city.

Kyiv decided this week to keep the defense of the city bahmut and send more reinforcements despite the risk that Wagner’s mercenaries succeed in closing the siege around the city.

The Ukrainian edition of The Kyiv Independent, in turn, collected testimonies from more than a dozen Ukrainian soldiers describing the battle for bahmut like a butcher shop.

Breakthrough of the Wagner Group

Also, the Wagner Group, the main striking force of the Kremlin, uses the word “massacre” to refer to battles for bahmut or Artemovsk, as the Russians call it.

However, the head of this paramilitary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, assured that Wagner’s fighters would do their job in the city “until the end”, up to comparing them with “300 Spartans”, clearly hinting at the lack of help from the regular army, despite all Wagner’s requests to the Ministry of Defense.

Prigozhin assured this Wednesday that his units had taken control of the eastern part of Ukraine. bahmut.

This information was also confirmed by the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW), which tracks battles in Ukraine.

“Russian troops have probably captured the eastern part bahmuteast of the Bakhmutka River, after the controlled withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from eastern Bakhmutka,” the latest ISW report says.

“Wagner units occupied the entire eastern part bahmuteverything east of the Bakhmutka River is under the control of the Wagner PMC,” Prigozhin said in a statement circulated by his press service.

The day before, Prigozhin confirmed that between 12,000 and 20,000 Ukrainian soldiers still remain in Bakhmut, offering fierce resistance to Russian troops.

The head of the mercenary group praised the enemy, saying that fierce battles were going on “day and night” and “Ukrainians do not run away.”

“They are dying en masse for bahmut and surrender only in extreme cases,” he said.

NATO does not rule out the imminent fall of Bakhmut

Meanwhile, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg did not rule out early autumn this Wednesday. bahmutthough he stressed that its conquest by the Russians would not necessarily be “a turning point in the war”.

“We cannot rule out that bahmut after all, it may drop in the next few days. Therefore, it is also important to emphasize that this does not necessarily reflect a turning point in the war, but only emphasizes that we should not underestimate Russia”, – said upon arrival at a meeting of EU defense ministers in Stockholm.

He stressed that in recent months and weeks there had been “fierce fighting in and around bahmut”.

He also added that Russia is deploying more soldiers, and what Moscow “lacks in quality, it tries to make up for in quantity.”

For his part, Igor Strelkov, the leader of the pro-Russian uprising in Donbas in 2014, believes that after the final capture of Bakhmut, the Russian offensive will lose strength.

(As reported by EFE)

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Fernando Carvallo selects information and shares his vision of national and international news. subscribe to our mailing list