Russia on Wednesday claimed control of three sites near Bakhmut, a city in eastern Ukraine that has been subject to heavy bombing and which Russian troops have been trying to capture since the summer.
“After offensive actions, Russian soldiers liberated the towns of Bilogorivka and Perche Travnia [designada Ozarianyvka em ucraniano]”, the Russian Ministry of Defense indicated early afternoon this Wednesday.
The first location is about 25 kilometers north of Bakhmut and the second is about 20 kilometers to the south.
just afterwards the Russian Defense Ministry announced the capture of Andriivka, also south of the city of Bakhmut and close to the frontline since 2014, the year when conflict began between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
In another part of the Donetsk administrative region (east), Russia also claimed ownership of Vodiane, near Andriivka.
Since the summer, fierce fighting has been taking place around Bakhmut, which is trying to capture Moscow, but so far without success, despite the support of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner.
This battle is of symbolic importance to Russian officials after a series of military setbacks, most notably the withdrawal in the Kharkiv (northeast) and Kherson (south) regions in November.
The Russian military has claimed control of small towns on the outskirts of Bakhmut, but appears never to have obtained the conditions to enter the city, where about half of its 70,000 inhabitants registered before the invasion began, according to Ukrainian authorities.
According to the Ukrainian presidency, Bakhmut has been practically destroyed, mainly due to artillery battles, and has no access to electricity or gas.
The North American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) believes that the Russian advance around this city is insufficient and “marginal”, as it is unlikely that the “degraded” Russian forces will be able to guarantee control of Bakhmut quickly.
The military offensive launched by Russia in Ukraine on February 24 has already led to the flight of more than 13 million people — more than six million internally displaced persons and more than 7.8 million to European countries — according to the latest data of the UN, which classifies this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945).
The Russian invasion – justified by the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russian security – was condemned by the international community at large, which responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and Russia political and economic sanctions.
The UN presented 6,655 civilian casualties and 10,368 wounded as confirmed since the start of the war, underlining that these numbers are well below the real ones.
Source: DN
