Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged that the situation on the front lines in the east of the country is becoming more difficult and that Russia is sending more troops into the battle.
According to Archyde.com, the Kremlin is pushing for a major victory on the battlefield following months of defeat, with Russian forces trying to take control of the town of Bakhmut and fighting for control of a key supply route. to Ukrainian forces nearby.
The Russian military is also trying to control the coal mining city of Vuhledar, regarding 120 kilometers southwest of Bakhmut, also in the eastern region of Donetsk.
“I’ve often had to say that the situation on the front lines is tough, getting harder and harder, and the time has come. The enemy is sending more and more forces in to break our defenses.
Right now the situation is very difficult in Bakhmut, Vuhledar, Lyman and other directions,” President Zelensky said in his nightly video address on February 4.
Earlier, on the same day on February 4, Deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine Hanna Malyar wrote on Telegram that Russia’s efforts to disrupt the defenses in Bakhmut and Lyman had failed.
Lyman, located north of Bakhmut, was taken by Ukrainian forces in October.
President Zelensky announced that Ukrainian forces would fight for Bakhmut “as long as possible”, but the situation there became increasingly difficult.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reports daily on numerous clashes in the region, and military bloggers in Moscow have claimed several unverified Russian successes along the front lines.
The Kremlin admits that the fighting around Bakhmut caused heavy casualties among Russian soldiers.
Russia’s independent news agency Meduza reported in late January that regarding 40,000 of the 50,000 recruits of the Wagner private military group involved in the operation there were dead or missing.
Ukrainian military analyst Petro Chernyk said that Russia’s high casualty count meant that Moscow might not pause its offensive there to recover as doing so would ease combat pressure.
“And this will be the perfect condition for our counter-attacks,” Chernyk told 24 Kanal Ukrainian TV station.
