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Pressure is mounting on the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, where Russian forces seek to surround and isolate the city. The Ukrainian Army suffers constant attacks and is in great difficulty. Taking the city would be Russia’s first major achievement in more than six months.
Ukrainian forces reported on Tuesday, February 28, that the situation was particularly tense in Bakhmut, Donetsk, where Russian forces would be close to encircling the city.
An anonymous soldier from Ukraine’s 93rd Separate Mechanized Brigade issued a message via Telegram on Tuesday: “The city is on fire, the enemy is pressing.”
For its part, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reported that the Russian attacks continued continuously.
“In the Bakhmut sector, the enemy is launching offensive actions and attacking continuously,” they said in a statement.
They also explained that other cities and towns in the Donetsk province were under Russian shelling, as well as 20 settlements in northern regions close to the Russian border: Chernihiv, Sumy and Kharkiv.
According to some Ukrainian soldiers, the situation on the Bakhmut front is critical.
“We have been suffering heavy losses for a little over a month, we do not have enough personnel in the positions, which causes lack of sleep … it is cold, it rains, the weather changes continuously. The attacks are constant, the infantry assaults too, everything the world is on the edge,” one of them confided to the AFP agency on Monday.
However, as another explained, the Ukrainian troops are still resisting.
“In some cases we would withdraw, but then we would pick up more. We cannot know what the operational situation will be, but we are here. We have not fled. We are all here. That is the spirit we need,” said a soldier.
According to Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar, the decision to continue fighting was made for “military” and not “political” considerations.
About to encircle Bakhmut?
Russian troops and members of the Wagner group would be attempting to cut off the supply lines of the Ukrainian defenders and force them to surrender or withdraw. To achieve this, pro-Russian forces continue to encircle the city more and more.
“Despite heavy losses, the enemy launched the most prepared assault units of Wagner, who are trying to break through the defenses of our troops and encircle the city,” Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of the ground forces, said in a statement. ukrainian
Around 5,000 people decided to stay in Bakhmut, but the Russians would be banning journalists and humanitarian aid from entering the city. And Ukrainian soldiers could access the city only from Chasiv Yar, a few kilometers to the west.
The Russian forces are superior in numbers in the battle and are aided by the Wagner mercenary forces, as indicated by Hanna Malyar.
“The enemy’s casualties are several times more numerous (…) Our soldiers have the capacity to destroy 80% of the terrorists,” Malyar said.
According to the acting head of the self-styled Donetsk People’s Republic, Denis Pushilin, the Wagner group seized the Stupki neighborhood, on the outskirts of Bakhmut.
“If we take into account that there are fights for every house there, this is an important success in the current phase,” Pushilin told Russian public television.
The capture of Bakhmut would be Russia’s biggest victory in more than six months and would allow Russian troops to seize the last urban areas of Donetsk, one of four regions that Moscow annexed after disputed referendums.
Zelensky acknowledges a “difficult situation”
The Ukrainian president affirmed on Tuesday that the Ukrainian forces continue to defend Bakhmut, but not at any price. He also recognized the intensity of the fighting and the delicate situation in which his soldiers find themselves.
“The most difficult, as before, is Bakhmut and the essential fighting for the defense of the city,” Zelensky declared.
“Russia does not count the people at all, they are constantly sending them to attack our positions. The intensity of the fighting is only increasing. I thank all the Ukrainian fighters, who, despite the insane pressure of the occupier, defend our positions and destroy the Russian army,” the Ukrainian president said.
Malyar acknowledged that the situation is “tense and difficult” for the Ukrainian troops in Bakhmut, stating that kyiv sent more troops to the city.
With AFP, Reuters and EFE
