Russia claimed responsibility on Wednesday for seizing two villages near Bakhmout, a town in eastern Ukraine now largely destroyed, which Russian forces have been trying to conquer since the summer.
“Following offensive actions, Russian soldiers liberated the towns of Bilogorivka and Perche Travnia” (a village called Ozarianyvka in Ukrainian), the Russian Defense Ministry said.
The first village is located about 25 km north of Bakhmout, and the second about twenty kilometers south. Later on Wednesday, he announced the capture of a third settlement south of the city, Andriivka.
“The Bakhmout Slaughterhouse”
The battle took on even more symbolic significance for Russian officials, as the city’s conquest would come after a series of humiliating defeats, with withdrawals from Kharkiv (northeast) in September and Kherson (south) in November.
The Russian army regularly announces the capture of very small towns in the vicinity of Bakhmout, but never appears to be in a position to take the town, which would still have nearly half its pre-war population of 70,000, according to Ukrainian authorities.
The city is now partially destroyed, in particular due to artillery battles, and no longer has access to electricity or gas, according to a bulletin from the Ukrainian presidency on Wednesday morning.
Wagner’s financial boss, billionaire Yevgeny Prigojine, dubbed the battle “the Bakhmout slaughterhouse” and vowed to “destroy the Ukrainian army.”
But Russian advances around this city are far from enough, according to the US think tank Institute for the Study of War, which analyzes daily developments on the front lines. The institute on Wednesday called Moscow’s progress “marginal” and said it was unlikely that “downgraded” Russian forces could quickly encircle Bakhmout.
Source: BFM TV
