The Ukrainian army is moving part of its troops from Ukraine’s Zaporijia region to Bakhmut, where the most intense fighting is currently taking place, the leader of the Together With Russia (pro-Russian) movement, Vladimir Rogov, said this Saturday.
“We observed the transfer of Ukrainian army units from the front [de combate] from Zaporijia to Artiomovsk [nome russo de Bakhmut]Rogov said, quoted by the official Russian news agency TASS.
“Despite this, the number of Ukrainian army personnel on the Zaporijia front has not decreased. We are beginning to understand that there is a transfer of mobilized units, changing units with soldiers trained in the West,” he added.
According to Rogov, the Zaporijia region, which was annexed by Russia in September 2022, is home to about 70,000 soldiers of the Ukrainian army.
On Friday, the founder of Russia’s private Wagner Army, Yevgueni Prigozhin, said Ukrainian troops were preparing a counter-offensive in Bakhmut.
Russia wants to take over the entire city, which is home to less than 4,000 people, before Ukraine launches its counter-offensive in the spring, an attack that could begin within two months if Ukraine receives more ammunition and long-range missiles from the West in time, the US’s adviser Ukrainian presidency, Mykhailo Podolyak, told Italian newspaper La Stampa.
Ukrainian forces are surrounded from the east, north and south, although the mercenaries of the Wagner Group have not yet reached the center of Bakhmut, which would require them to cross the river of the same name through the eastern part.
Source: DN
