Ukraine claims gains near Bakhmut; Russia says counterattacks thwarted
Ukraine said on Friday that its forces had recaptured chunks of territory around the embattled city of Bakhmut, even as President Volodymr Zelensky insists his Army needs more time before launching an expected spring offensive.
Kyiv’s claimed gains near the epicentre of the war’s fiercest battle have been refuted by Moscow, but come as expectations build over the anticipated, highstakes fightback.
On the battlefield,
Ukraine said its forces advanced two kilometres near Bakhmut — the scene of the longest and bloodiest battle since Moscow’s more than yearlong invasion.
Russia says that reports of territorial losses around the Bakhmut city ‘didn’t correspond to reality’
Wagner head concurs
Bakhmut once had a population of around 70,000 people. It has been destroyed as Russian forces have posted incremental gains over recent months, amounting to some 80% of the city.
“The enemy has suffered great losses of manpower,” Deputy Defence
Minister Ganna Malyar said in a statement on social media. “We did not lose a single position in Bakhmut this week.”
Russia has denied Ukraine made any breakthroughs in the flashpoint city, saying that reports of its territorial losses around the city did “not correspond to reality”.
But the head of the Wagner private military group spearheading Moscow’s attack on Bakhmut, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said Kyiv had made “successful counterattacks”.
The social media accounts of several Russian war correspondents late at night also spread alarm, with some of them saying Kyiv’s longanticipated counteroffensive had begun.
Mr. Zelensky, however, has said in an interview published on Thursday that Kyiv needs more time before going on the offensive.