Pressure on Ukrainian army intensifies in Bakhmout
Russian troops continue to advance in the northern outskirts of Bakhmout, a symbolic city defended by the Ukrainian army.
“The Ukrainian defense of the city of Bakhmout is under increasing pressure, with intense fighting in and around the city”, the British Ministry of Defense tweeted on Saturday. He reported a « progression » of “Wagner Group and Russian regular army in the northern suburbs of the city now vulnerable to attack from three sides”.
As a result, Kyiv “Reinforce the area with elite units and in the last thirty-six hours two key bridges in Bakhmout have been destroyed, including a vital bridge linking the city to the last main supply route”continued the British ministry.
Villages north and west of Bakhmout were attacked on Saturday, Serhi Cherevaty, spokesman for the Eastern Grouping of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, told CNN on Saturday, reporting a total of 131 assaults on that front.
The battle for Bakhmout, an industrial city whose strategic importance is disputed, has been going on since the summer of 2022. The city has become a symbol, as it has been at the heart of fighting between Russians and Ukrainians for months.
According to analysts from theInstitute for the Study of War (ISW), Russian forces are unlikely to encircle Bakhmout anytime soon. The ISW estimates, in its bulletin published on Saturday evening, that “Ukrainian forces are much more likely to withdraw than to be surrounded”and they might even still “to be able to hold their positions in Bakhmout”.
