Ukraine said on Tuesday that pressure was mounting on its troops in Bakhmut. (file)
Kyiv:
Ukraine said on Tuesday that its troops were under increasing pressure in the battered border town of Bakhmut in the industrial east, a major prize for the Kremlin after months of brutal fighting.
As fighting intensified, Moscow said it shot down a Ukrainian drone targeting civilian sites on Russian territory, while another crashed near the capital.
“The situation around Bakhmut is extremely tense,” said the commander of Ukraine’s army, Alexander Syrsky.
“Despite suffering significant losses, the enemy has dispatched its best-trained Wagner assault units to try to break through our soldiers’ defenses and encircle the city,” Mr Sirsky said, referring to the Russian mercenary group. “
The regional governor said this month that Bakhmut, which once had a population of some 70,000 people, is slowly fleeing and now only 5,000 citizens remain, including about 140 children.
Bakhmut ‘will fall’
“I think Bakhmut will most likely fall,” a Ukrainian soldier with the call sign “Fox” told AFP reporters in Bakhmut this week, believing Russian forces were making gains around the town.
“They say (Russian soldiers) are idiots, drunkards and drug addicts,” the 40-year-old said.
“But they have smart people, people who know how to fight… They think, they learn, the same way we do.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who visited the devastated city in December, has said his forces will keep fighting for Bakhmut as long as possible.
He has urged allies to send more weapons to help Ukraine capture the city and reclaim territory in the Donetsk region.
Analysts say the city holds more political than military value, with Moscow eager for any victory after months of slow progress in the east and setbacks elsewhere.
Valery, a Bakhmut resident, told AFP he had no intention of leaving the town, no matter how fierce the fighting became.
“My apartment is over there. And to be honest, I’d rather die in my apartment, or near my building. Where do we go? Who needs us?” They said.
Russia’s Wagner Group, a once-shadowy force founded by Kremlin-linked businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, has taken center stage in the battle for Bakhmut.
The US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said on Tuesday that regular Russian troops are now “attempting to institutionalize tactics used by the Wagner Group to marginal strategic effect.”
drones dropped over russia
The assessment of the fighting in the east came after Russia said it shot down drones that were moving towards civilian targets.
The incidents are the latest in a series of suspicious attacks inside Russia in recent months, which Moscow has blamed on Kiev.
Officials said they shot down the drone in the southern Krasnodar region, the republic of Adygea and the border region of Bryansk.
The governor of the Moscow region, Andrei Vorobyov, meanwhile said that a drone possibly targeting civilian infrastructure also crashed near the capital.
“There have been no casualties or damage on the ground. The FSB (security services) and other competent authorities are investigating,” he added.
In a meeting with the FSB, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the security services should intensify their work to secure Russia’s borders.
Vladimir Putin’s close aide and Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko has arrived in Beijing for a three-day visit that will include talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
Mr Lukashenko’s visit comes shortly after Beijing issued a position paper on Russia’s war in Ukraine, insisting it is a neutral party and calling for talks between the two sides.
It also follows allegations from the United States and NATO that Beijing may be considering sending arms to Russia as the conflict enters its second year. China has vehemently denied these claims.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said the priority for Ukraine was to fight off Russia’s aggression with the support of allies and that the “long-term” nation would join the alliance.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
featured video of the day
On Camera, Bihar Police Pulls Over, Arrests Father of Soldier Martyred in Galwan