Status: 06.03.2023 5:14 p.m
Fierce fighting has been going on in Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine for months. The Ukrainian army rejected speculation about a possible partial withdrawal. She wants to expand her presence even more.
The Ukrainian government has denied suggestions that the army might withdraw from the fiercely contested town of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk. According to the Ukrainian Presidential Office, the army leadership even wants to strengthen the positions in Bakhmut. At a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, army chief Valeriy Zalushnyy and the commander of the Ukrainian ground forces, Oleksandr Syrskyy, spoke out in favor of “continuing the defense operation” and “strengthening our position in Bakhmut”, the statement said.
Military observers: Ukrainian partial withdrawal from Bakhmut possible
On Sunday, the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said Kiev could withdraw its forces from at least parts of Bakhmut rather than risk full encirclement. “The Ukrainian forces may withdraw from their positions on the east bank of the Bakhmutka River in the face of the destruction of the railway bridge across the river in northeastern Bakhmut on March 3, confirmed by images with geolocation,” the military experts wrote.
According to Russian military bloggers, the Wagner mercenary force fighting there has meanwhile taken parts in the east, south and north of Bakhmut.
Bakhmut almost completely circled
Bakhmut is an industrial town with a population of about 70,000 before the Russian attack. Bakhmut has been the subject of fierce fighting since the summer, and the city, in whose ruins, according to official figures, around 5,000 civilians are still holding out, was almost completely destroyed.
The strategic value of Bakhmut after the Russian troops were expelled from the Kharkiv region is low. For the Russian military leadership, however, the receipt has great symbolic power, since it has to show successes. The Ukrainian side held Bakhmut for a long time, since the well-developed positions in the city made it possible for the attackers to inflict heavy casualties during their slow advance.
With the encirclement on three sides, the Ukrainian defenders had only the road to Chasiv Yar west of Bakhmut as a supply and possible retreat route.
Wagner boss senses treason because of missing ammunition
Meanwhile, the conflict between the mercenary force and the Russian Defense Ministry continues to smolder. Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin complained that an ammunition delivery announced for February 23 had not yet taken place. There are two possible explanations for this delay: “the usual bureaucracy or treason,” Prigozhin explained in a video message.
In addition, his representative was denied access to the army group staff on Monday morning, he wrote on the Telegram channel of his press service. And reiterated: “We will continue to destroy the Ukrainian forces at Bakhmut”. The Wagner boss had repeatedly criticized the Russian army leadership and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and complained about the lack of ammunition deliveries.
Shoigu visits Mariupol
Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry said Shoigu had visited the devastated port city of Mariupol in southern Ukraine. On his third visit to the war zone, Shoigu traveled to Mariupol to oversee the reconstruction work there.
Video recordings show the 67-year-old in a newly built hospital and in front of the civil defense building. Criticism has increased recently that those responsible in Moscow are only waging the war from their cabinets and are not paying attention to the concerns of the soldiers and the local population, which Russia, according to its own understanding, had liberated.
Ukraine reports new attacks
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, during the night there were attacks with a total of 15 Iranian-made drones, 13 of which were shot down. “Drones were launched from the north,” spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force Yuriy Ihnat said on television. No injuries or property damage were initially reported.
Several impacts were reported from the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk. The city in the Donetsk region, which is under Ukrainian control, was fired at with rockets. “The consequences of the night rocket attack – a school was destroyed and 15 apartment buildings were damaged,” said the mayor. According to the information, no one was killed or injured.