Ukraine ‘breaks through’ Russian lines at Bakhmut as major offensive looms
UKRAINIAN forces advanced by about a mile around the embattled eastern town of Bakhmut this week, a minister said today.
Other defence experts said Ukraine’s army was “likely” to have broken through Russian lines in the area, a claim denied by Moscow.
Vladimir Putin has sent thousands of Russian troops to their death in a desperate bid to seize the town in the Donetsk province.
But Ukraine’s Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar stressed that her country’s army had seized back some of the fought-over land.
She wrote on the Telegram messaging app that “the enemy failed to carry out its plans; the enemy suffered great losses of manpower; our defenders advanced 2km (1.2 miles) in the Bakhmut sector; we did not lose a single position in Bakhmut this week”.
Her claims could not be independently verified.
Meanwhile, the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War reported Ukrainian Eastern Group of Forces Commander Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi claiming Russian forces had retreated up to 2km (1.24 miles) behind their lines.
But Russia’s defence ministry denied reports that Ukrainian forces had broken through in various places along the front and said the situation was under control, with attacks repelled. These claims could also not be confirmed.
Moscow reacted after Russian military bloggers, writing on Telegram, reported what they said were Ukrainian advances north and south of Bakhmut in the eastern province of Donetsk, with some suggesting a long-awaited counter offensive by Kyiv forces had started.
There was little evidence to confirm that such a major assault had begun. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had earlier said the offensive had yet to start.
Kyiv said its troops had pushed Russian forces back over the past several days near Bakhmut, while a full-blown counter-offensive involving tens of thousands of troops and hundreds of Western tanks was still being prepared.
The Institute for the Study of War tweeted: “Ukrainian forces likely broke through some Russian lines in localised counter-attacks near Bakhmut, prompting responses from Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin and the Russian Ministry of Defence.”
Prigozhin, head of Putin’s “private” Wagner army, yesterday said Ukrainian operations were “unfortunately, partially successful”.
In a major step-up in Western support for Ukraine, Britain said it was sending Storm Shadow cruise missiles, allowing Kyiv to strike behind Russian lines.