Ukraine denied the existence of any mass withdrawal of its forces from the city of Bakhmut, and accused Russia of using “AB 1500 B” bombs with great destructive capacity for the first time since the beginning of the war, at a time when a senior intelligence official in Ukraine predicted the date of what he described as the final battle with Russia.
And the spokesman for the Eastern Group of Ukrainian Forces, Sergey Chervaty, announced in statements to American media that his country’s forces continue to control the city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, and confirmed That the fighting in the city takes place mainly in the suburbs.
Chervati explained that the forces of Ukraine and its Border Service and National Guard control Bakhmut, stressing that the Ukrainian forces are conducting a planned rotation of the sites in Bakhmut, as he put it.
“The losses of the Russians (in Bakhmut) amount to 500 dead and wounded per day,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov told the German newspaper “Bild am Sonntag”.
The Staff Command of the Ukrainian Army also announced that its forces had repelled regarding 130 Russian attacks in 5 directions, most notably Bakhmut, Liman, Avdiivka, Shakhtar and Kobyansk, and added that the Russian forces bombed during the past 24 hours the regions of Kherson and Mykolaiv in the south.
“Wagner’s units have practically surrounded Bakhmut, and there is only one way out,” Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner Group, said in a video posted by his media office on the Telegram app last Friday.
Prigozhin called on the Ukrainian president – who has vowed to defend Bakhmut “as long as possible” – to order his forces to withdraw from the city.
Bakhmut in the Donetsk canton of the Donbass region (eastern Ukraine) has limited strategic importance, but it has gained great symbolic importance due to the long duration and ferocity of the battles around it, as large parts of it were destroyed by the bombing.
In recent weeks, Russian forces have been trying to surround Bakhmut, and have succeeded in cutting many roads leading to the city, which is vital for supplying Ukrainian forces.
For the Ukrainians, the city – a strategic transportation node 65 km north of Donetsk (the administrative center of the province) and regarding 600 km from the capital, Kiev – is a fortress to defend the rest of the province’s cities.
Ukrainian raids and bombing
Also in the context of the battles, the Staff of the Ukrainian Army reported that its forces carried out 21 raids on areas where Russian forces and their military equipment are stationed, in addition to an ammunition depot, confirming the downing of 4 reconnaissance planes and the targeting of 3 anti-aircraft systems.
For its part, the pro-Russian Donetsk authorities announced that two civilians were killed and 4 wounded in Ukrainian bombing of separate areas in the province.
The authorities added that Ukrainian artillery and missile shelling targeted the city of Gorlovka and affected neighborhoods in western and northern Donetsk, adding that the shelling also destroyed a number of residential homes and infrastructure facilities.
In Kherson, the military administration of the province announced that one person was killed and 3 wounded in a Russian attack on residential neighborhoods, and reported that Russian forces launched 78 attacks on the right bank of the Dnipro River.
The Ukrainian General Staff accused the Russian forces of using civilians in the Nova Kakhovka area on the left bank of the Dnipro River as human shields by placing air defenses in residential neighborhoods.
In Zaporizhia, the military administration confirmed that a long-range missile hit the city of Adiivka, southwest of Zaporizhia.
The last fight
Meanwhile, the head of military intelligence in the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense Kirill Budanov said that Ukraine and Russia will face each other in the final battle of this war in the spring.
And in interview With USA TODAY, Budanov described this battle as decisive, and indicated that it would be the last before the end of the war, but he did not provide any evidence of his expectations.
He added, “Russia has exhausted a huge amount of human resources, weapons, and materials. Its economy and production are unable to cover these losses. It has changed its military command chain, and if the Russian plans fail to achieve their goals this spring, the Russian army may withdraw,” he said.
AB 1500B bombs
The Russian “Anna News” agency quoted Ukrainian sources as saying that Russian planes used for the first time “upAB1500B” bombs with great destructive capacity, and the pro-Russian Donetsk forces published pictures believed to be the moment when this bomb was used in Avdiivka.
The Russian “Pravda” website confirmed the use of these 1,500-kilogram bombs when Russian planes targeted fortified Ukrainian sites in the city of Avdiivka, west of Donetsk, two days ago.
These bombs appeared for the first time in the Russian Air Force in 2019, and are designed to destroy fortified targets at a distance of up to 40 km and are dropped from a height of at least 14 km.
In conjunction with the field developments, the Russian Defense Minister held a meeting with the commanders of the Russian forces units stationed in the area of what Moscow calls the military operation for Ukraine.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu listened to reports from commanders on the latest situation, and paid special attention to creating conditions for the safe deployment of soldiers, organizing comprehensive support for troops, and the work of medical units and rear support units.
Support until victory
On the other hand, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly announced that his country would continue to support Ukraine until victory, and said it had provided the necessary training for Ukrainian pilots to help them defend their country.
Cleverly added – in remarks on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in the Indian capital, New Delhi – that Britain has provided Ukraine with anti-tank missiles and a group of main battle tanks, stressing that his country will continue to support the Ukrainians and communicate continuously with the counterparts in Ukraine to find out their needs.
