The Ukraine has after own Information on key positions around the embattled town of Bakhmut in the east of the country taken.
The soldiers had gained control of “entrances, exits and the movements of the enemy in the city” in the past few days, said Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maljar on Monday in the online service Telegram. “During the advance, our soldiers took control of important command heights around Bakhmut.”
Military expert Colonel Markus Reisner speaks to the broadcaster n-tv on the situation in Bachmut. He describes the situation there as “significant”.
The territory is still in Russian hands, but in the north and especially in the south the Ukrainians have managed to push back the Russian front advances. “Here we actually see a remarkable success for Ukraine,” says Reisner.
Reisner says that if the Ukrainians succeed in pushing the advances north and south of Bakhmut much further to the east, they could be able to encircle the Russians in Bakhmut. “But that’s not the case yet.”
In May, Russian troops announced that they had conquered the once 80,000-inhabitant town of Bakhmut with the help of the Wagner mercenary group after months of devastating fighting. In the past few weeks, the Ukrainian army had reported progress around the city.
In early June, Ukraine launched its long-awaited counter-offensive to recapture Russian-held territories in the east and south of the country. Since then, according to information from Kiev, a total of 193 square kilometers have been recaptured. (Tsp/AFP)