Battle for Bakhmut rages on as Russian forces attempt to ‘encircle’ city; residents flee

The eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut continues to witness intense fighting as Russia attempts to “encircle the town”, forcing civilians to leave on foot rather than vehicles. Reports also suggested that it seems like both Moscow and Kyiv are struggling with weapon shortages and mounting casualties. This comes as Bakhmut has become the epicentre of fighting in the past few months.

On Sunday morning, a Ukrainian general said “more than 130 enemy attacks,” have been repelled from areas including Kupiansk, Lyman, Bakhmut and Avdiivka in the eastern regions of Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv. He added, “The enemy continues its attempts to encircle the town of Bakhmut.”

This comes after the Russian mercenary group Wagner's chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, late Saturday said that if his forces were to withdraw, Moscow’s entire frontline would collapse. Subsequently, in a video address on Sunday, he said that Russia’s ministry of defence was not doing enough to support his men in terms of ammunition. “If the private mercenary force Wagner retreats from Bakhmut, the whole front will crumble…to the Russian borders and maybe further”, said the Wagner chief, as per the Guardian.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Ukrainian military’s eastern command, Serhiy Cherevatyi said Bakhmut was Russia’s “priority target” but their troops are “doing everything to defend this settlement and also inflict maximum losses on the enemy”, reported Reuters. In an interview with Ukraine’s Kyiv24 on Sunday, the war-torn country’s top commander described the situation in the city as “hell” and that Russian forces were still on the outskirts of the city.

Think tank ISW and UK defence ministry weigh in

The Washington-based think tank, Institute for the Study of War (ISW) in a statement, on Sunday, said, “Russian forces appear to have secured a sufficient positional advantage to conduct a turning movement against parts of Bakhmut but have not yet forced Ukrainian forces to withdraw and will not likely be able to encircle the city soon.”

It added that the purpose of this turning movement “is to force the enemy to abandon prepared defensive positions and is different from the aim of an encirclement, which is to trap and destroy enemy forces.” However, the Ukrainian command has signalled that it might withdraw from the city rather than risk an encirclement, said the ISW.

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence, in its update on Sunday said Russia engaging in “close combat” with Ukraine would signal that Russia is short on ammunition. They also claim that Russian-mobilised reservists in late February were ordered to assault a Ukrainian strongpoint armed with only “firearms and shovels”. It added that the shovels “are likely entrenching tools being employed for hand-to-hand combat.”

This also comes a day after the British intelligence update said that Ukrainian troops in the past 36 hours have destroyed two key bridges just outside Bakhmut linking to the nearby town of Chasiv Yar, along the last remaining Ukrainian resupply route. The action was prompted by the Russian forces making further inroads into Bakhmut’s northern suburbs.

Residents in Bakhmut flee

As the pressure from Russian forces mounted on Saturday in Bakhmut, Ukrainian residents in the city were forced to flee. An unnamed Ukrainian army representative speaking to the Associated Press said that was now too dangerous for civilians to leave Bakhmut by vehicle and that people had to flee on foot instead. According to AP, a pontoon bridge was set up by Ukrainian soldiers to help move the residents to the nearby village of Khromove, where at least five houses were seen on fire after attacks on the village.

Russian army claims to have hit Azov Regiment command centre in Ukraine

The Russian defence ministry, in a statement, said that they have hit a Ukrainian command centre for the Azov Regiment in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region. However, it did not elaborate on the attack or even mention the battle around Bakhmut in its Sunday bulletin.

Women and children killed in Kherson; Death toll after strike in Zaporizhzhia rises to 11

A woman and two children were killed in the Ukrainian region of Kherson after their village was hit by a Russian mortar shelling, said the head of Kyiv’s presidential office, Andriy Yermak on Sunday. “Mortar shelling of Poniativka village in Kherson region. A private house was hit”, he wrote on the messaging app Telegram.

On Saturday, the Ukrainian state emergency service said that at least 11 people were killed after an apartment block in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia was hit by an early morning strike last week. The agency took to Telegram and said that the death toll rose after they found a woman’s body in the debris.

Disclaimer: A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While WION takes utmost care to accurately report this developing news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.

(With inputs from agencies)

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