The balance of power is tense in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that the military situation was currently the “most difficult” near Bakhmout, days after pro-Russian forces announced they were closing in on the city.
“A very serious situation persists in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions” in the Donbass industrial basin, the leader said in his daily message. “The hardest part is near Bakhmout, like the previous days. We are still holding our positions,” he added.
Hurry
Russian-backed separatist forces in Ukraine’s Donetsk region said on Thursday they had seized two nearby villages, Opytin and Ivangrad.
For weeks, Russian troops have been pummeling Bakhmout, a city that once had 70,000 inhabitants, hoping to take it over. About fifteen kilometers from Bakhmout, in Chassiv Yar, AFP journalists spoke with a soldier who had just returned from the front in this region.
“For days I didn’t sleep, I didn’t eat, I didn’t drink, except coffee,” said the 50-year-old soldier from the 93rd brigade, nicknamed “Poliak.”
“Of the 13 boys in my group, we lost two soldiers and five were evacuated,” continues this soldier, slightly injured by shrapnel and showing signs of exhaustion. “It is our life now, we will do everything for our country”, he said again, almost on the verge of tears.
For weeks, Ukrainian troops have been retaking large swathes of territory in southern and eastern Ukraine.
Source: BFM TV
