Ukraine acknowledged on Monday that the situation was “complicated” north of Bakhmut, a key city in the east of the country that the Russian army has been trying to capture for months.
Bakhmut, which had a population of 70,000 before the war, was practically destroyed after six months of fighting that caused heavy casualties on both sides.
The battle for the city has become a symbol as the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine approaches on February 24.
In recent weeks, Russian troops have claimed advances, especially north of the city. In January, they took Soledar and its salt mines less than 12 miles from the city.
In its daily report, the Ukrainian General Staff indicated that Russian forces bombed 16 sites near Bakhmut this Monday alone.
The Ukrainian presidency also admitted that the situation was “complicated” in Paraskoviyevka, a village just 10 kilometers from the center. “intense bombing and attacks” by Russia were recorded at the site. The Russian army further claimed the conquest of Krasna Hora.
The day before, the head of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, Yevgueny Prigozhin, said his troops had taken control of the city. Wagner’s mercenaries are at the forefront of this battle.
Moscow is seeking control of the entire Donbass mining basin, where Kiev forces and pro-Russian separatists have been fighting since 2014.
“Explosions Every Day. It’s Scary”
The spokesman for the “Eastern” command of the Ukrainian army, Sergei Cherevaty, said on Sunday that “the Bakhmut sector” remained the “main zone of enemy attacks”. In the past 24 hours, 167 bombings and 41 armed clashes have been recorded in the area.
A Russian occupation official in eastern Ukraine, separatist leader Denis Pushilin, said Friday that Moscow forces controlled three of Ukraine’s four supply channels to Bakhmut.
Cherevaty also noted that a “record number of bombings” was recorded near Lyman, a town further north, which was abandoned by the Russians in October due to the advancing Ukrainian counter-offensive.
In Kupiansk, north of the front line, AFP journalists saw destroyed buildings and bullet marks. A few cars burned down in the streets.
The inhabitants fear an imminent Russian attack, after a large explosion this morning.
“There were bombings in front of my house, all the windows were broken. There are explosions every day, it’s scary,” says Olga, a 62-year-old resident.
The Ukrainian presidency also stressed that the situation was “tense” near Vuhledar, further south, another point that concentrates fighting on the eastern front.
The same source reported that at least three people have been killed and another injured in a bombing raid in Kherson, on the shores of the Black Sea, in the south of the country in the past 24 hours.
And in Kiev, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said he needed “thousands” of additional generators three days after Moscow resumed bombing the country’s energy infrastructure.
Zelensky appoints new head of Ukrainian security services
On the political front, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday appointed Vasyl Maliuk, a military officer, as the new head of Ukraine’s security services (SBU).
He also appointed a new interior minister, Igor Klymenko, who will have to form new assault brigades.
In turn, Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, weakened by a corruption scandal, set the objectives of the next meeting with Western allies, scheduled for Tuesday in Brussels.
Objectives include supplying Ukraine with modern tanks and ammunition, training soldiers and deploying anti-aircraft guns to counter Russian missiles, wrote the minister in a post on Facebook.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned on Monday that Kiev is using an amount of ammunition that exceeds the military alliance’s current production capacity. “This is putting pressure on our defense industries,” he said in Brussels.
Ukraine has been piling up promises of arms supplies from the West for several weeks. But Kiev is asking its allies to hand over long-range weapons and fighter jets so it can confront Moscow more effectively.
Source: DN
