Russia wins another victory in Bakhmut despite NATO’s assistance to Ukraine
2023.03.04 01:32
Russia wins another victory in Bakhmut despite NATO’s assistance to Ukraine
By Kristina Sobol
Budrigannews.com – Friday, in an effort to complete the encirclement of the besieged Ukrainian city and bring Moscow closer to its first major victory in half a year following the bloodiest war battle, Russian artillery pounded the final exit routes from Bakhmut.
According to the head of Russia’s Wagner private army, the city, which has been destroyed by Russia’s more than seven-month assault, was almost completely surrounded, and Ukraine’s troops could only access one road.
Reuters observed intense Russian shelling of Bakhmut’s western exit routes, possibly in an effort to prevent Ukrainian forces from entering and exiting the city. Russian tank fire damaged a bridge in the nearby town of Khromove.
A sign that Ukraine was not yet ready to surrender the city was the fact that additional Ukrainian troops were moving toward the frontline and working to repair damaged roads. Ukrainians were making new trenches for defensive positions to the west.
A video showed, according to Russia’s RIA state news agency, Wagner fighters passing a damaged industrial facility. According to a fighter, Ukraine’s army is dismantling infrastructure in settlements near Bakhmut to thwart Russian control.
Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, paid a visit to Bakhmut on Friday to discuss ways to improve frontline forces’ defense capacity with local commanders.
Denys Yaroslavskyi, commander of a Ukrainian army unit at Bakhmut, told Espreso TV that some units had been instructed to rotate to more secure positions. He referred to the situation as “a slaughterhouse on both sides” since the morning.
After mobilizing hundreds of thousands of reservists last year, Russia’s first major prize in a costly winter offensive would be a victory in Bakhmut, which had a population of approximately 70,000 prior to the war. According to Russia, it would be a step toward completing Moscow’s primary goal of capturing the industrial Donbas region.
Before the war, salt and gypsum mines were popular in Bakhmut. According to Ukraine, the city has little strategic value, and Russia’s massive losses while attempting to take Bakhmut could influence the conflict’s course.
In a video that Reuters determined was recorded on a rooftop in a village about 7 km (4 miles) north of the city center, Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin stated, “Units of the private military company Wagner have practically surrounded Bakhmut.”
He stated, “There is only one exit.” The clamps are tightening.
He pleaded with Volodymyr Zelenskiy, President of Ukraine, to direct a retreat from Bakhmut in order to spare his soldiers’ lives. A grey-bearded older man and two boys—three captured Ukrainians—asked to be allowed to return home as the camera panted.
In a video that was shared on social media, the commander of a Ukrainian drone unit in Bakhmut who goes by the name “Madyar,” Robert Brovdi, stated that his unit had been given the order to withdraw immediately. He claimed that it had taken him 110 days to fight there.
Volodymyr Nazarenko, a deputy commander in the Ukrainian National Guard, told Ukrainian NV Radio that fighting was ongoing “round the clock” and that the situation was “critical.”
They do not take into account their losses in the assault attempt to take the city. Our troops in Bakhmut are tasked with inflicting as many casualties on the adversary as possible. “The enemy loses hundreds of lives for every meter of Ukrainian land,” he stated.
“We don’t have enough ammunition to kill many Russians here.”
After Moscow reported a number of drone attacks on targets deep within Russia, followed by what it claimed was an armed cross-border raid on Thursday, Russia has been alarmed about its own potential vulnerabilities these past few days.
On Friday, President Vladimir Putin instructed his Security Council to enhance “anti-terrorism measures.”
In the meantime, Zelenskiy paid wounded soldiers visits at a Lviv military hospital. One of them apologized for being unable to stand up while shaking the president’s hand from his bed. That’s fine,” Zelenskiy declared. You will rise at the appropriate time.”
During an evening video address in which he thanked troops for defending the city “firmly and bravely,” Zelenskiy did not discuss the fighting in Bakhmut.
Antony Blinken, Secretary of State for the United States, made the announcement in Washington about a $400 million package of ammunition and other support for Ukraine’s military.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the United States has provided nearly $32 billion in aid to the country.
U.S. President Joe Biden expressed gratitude to the visiting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for his “profound” support of Ukraine at the White House. According to Scholz, it was essential to convey that support for Ukraine will continue “as long as it takes and as long as is necessary.”
According to the White House, the two reaffirmed their commitment to levy sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
It is anticipated that Germany’s Leopard tanks, which were promised in January, will form the basis of a new Ukrainian armored force.
Although Scholz has oversaw a significant shift in policy from a nation that was Russia’s largest energy customer prior to the war, he has been criticized by some Western allies for taking a cautious public stance toward arming Ukraine.
Oleksii Makeiev, Ukraine’s ambassador in Berlin, stated that Germany is now taking a more active role in arming Ukraine.
Pro-Western Kyiv is accused of posing a security threat by Moscow, which claims to have annexed nearly a fifth of Ukraine. Ukraine and its partners say the attack was an unwarranted conflict of success.
After Blinken stated that Moscow cannot be permitted to wage war in Ukraine with impunity, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov criticized the United States of America for being hypocritical, pointing to U.S. military interventions all over the world. On the sidelines of a G20 meeting of foreign ministers in India, the two men briefly met.
