Moscow aims to encircle this city ravaged by brutal fighting as kyiv raises a flag on the left bank of the Dnieper
The conquest of Bakhmut, a strategic communications hub that has resisted since the start of the war, has become the immediate goal of the Russian Army. This seems to be deduced from the troop movements that yesterday tried to surround this city in the Donetsk region from the north and south, and which in the eyes of some Western strategists are almost disproportionate due to the volume of resources used and the hardness of the fighting. . “There is a realistic possibility that the capture of Bakhmut has become primarily a symbolic and political goal for Russia,” the British Defense Ministry suggested yesterday based on analyst reports.
According to them, “Russian forces continue to expend a large part of their overall military effort and firepower along a sector approximately fifteen kilometers long on the entrenched front” of the city. Contrary to kyiv’s comments about the “insignificance” of the square on the overall Donbas chessboard, Moscow offers the opposite account. He considers that the capture of Bakhmut not only strengthens his position in the region, but would also threaten Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, two strongholds of the local Army that are reached by a road network that would be under Russian control.
The situation in Bakhmut is “desperate”, according to statements by the military and rescue teams. The constant artillery duel to which the troops of both sides are subjected and the frontal attacks with which the invaders gauge the resistance of the defensive fortifications have resulted in a “slaughter” that is even settled hand-to-hand. The trenches have become barely practicable because of the mud. Some media calculate that every day there are no fewer than 250 casualties due to the harshness of the fighting. And the Ukrainians, who have been defending the position for nine months, are of the opinion that what the invading forces, fueled by numerous mercenaries from the Wagner company, really want to do is completely crush their infrastructure.
The president himself, Volodímir Zelenski, acknowledged yesterday after a meeting with his officials that the scenario in this critical part of Donetsk is “the most painful” and one of the most dramatic since the start of the war. “We are doing everything we can to help our boys. Our heroes, who support the defense there, deserve the greatest thanks,” he exclaimed in his usual night speech.
“He will be expelled”
The violence is so extensive that Wagner circles boast that Bakhmut is known as the “meat grinder.” The General Staff, according to journalistic information, sees “the capture of Slovyansk and Kramatorsk” as very feasible, although “first we will have to take” Bakhmut and its surroundings. “The (Ukrainian) enemy will be forced to withdraw from the fields and overgrown forest plantations to urban areas” where he would be most exposed. “Either that or he will be expelled,” military sources emphasized after announcing the capture of a new nearby town: Kurdyumovka. “From there you can even see the outskirts of Kramatorsk; this is a little over 30 kilometers in a straight line.”
Experts believe that the Kremlin’s commitment to this enclave is due to the need of its president, Vladimir Putin, to offer the Russians (and the international community) a victory that he can pass off as significant of the power of his Army and that the invasion is not going as badly as recent counteroffensives indicate.
However, this victory would not hide the difficulties that the Russian forces are going through in Kherson to maintain their positions on the edge of the Dnieper or the fierce skirmishes in Zaporizhia, where the pro-Russian authorities begin to plan a partial evacuation of civilians and the Russians build new fortified defenses. in a constant fight against rain and mud. The Ukrainians managed to cross the river yesterday, which seemed unthinkable three weeks ago, and planted a national flag atop a crane on the Russian-held left bank of the Dnieper.
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