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The Ukrainian military said it had advanced despite strong resistance from Russian troops north and south of Bakhmut, putting greater pressure on Moscow’s forces to devote resources to the fight as they prepare for a wider Ukrainian counteroffensive.
Bakhmut, once a city of 80,000 people famous for its wine and salt mines, has been the scene of some of the deadliest urban battles in a generation. After almost a year of fighting, Russian forces captured about 90 percent of the destroyed city. But after months on the defensive, Ukraine last week launched a series of coordinated counter-attacks and, within days, retook the area around the city that had taken months for Russian forces to recapture.
Over 48 hours earlier, Ukraine was able to build on the results of last week and drive forward about two kilometers in some directions, Col. Serhiy Cherevaty, spokesman for the Ukrainian forces fighting in the east said on national television last night.
Without elaborating further, he said that in some respects the push forward was slower, with fighting in an area the size of three football fields. Colonel Cherevaty also said that Russian forces are attacking in some areas. While these claims cannot be independently verified, Russian military bloggers have also documented Ukraine’s gains in Bakhmut over the past week.
The results are still small geographically – a few dozen square kilometers at most – but they represent a change in the momentum that Ukrainian commanders say they hope to build when they begin the much-anticipated counteroffensive in other places on the 600-mile front line.
They also present a difficult decision for Russia about the cost of continuing to fight for the damaged city, potentially drawing resources away from other areas it could attack.
The Ukrainian counteroffensive is not a one-off event, according to Ukrainian commanders and military analysts. President Volodymyr Zelensky warned last week that it could be delayed without other weapons from the allies, but it is not clear that it was a misdirection, and Ukraine in recent weeks has increased its attacks on Russian positions deeper behind enemy lines.
Despite the deployment of Western weapons to aid the counterattack, Ukrainian commanders do not expect the war ahead to be easy. Andriy Biletsky, commander of Ukraine’s 3rd Assault Brigade, which made the initial breakthrough of Russian lines around Bakhmut last week, said in an interview over the weekend that “Russian tank units are being pulled up, new units are being pulled up.” As he spoke, the sound of fighting nearby could be heard in the distance.
The battle for Bakhmut was fluid, but the Ukrainian military and Russian military bloggers gave an overview of the most intense fighting.
To the south, Ukrainian soldiers and commanders have reported advancing through a pocket of forest south of the village of Ivanivske as they move toward Klishchiivka, a small village that Wagner’s troops claimed to have captured in late January. The village was considered strategically important because it was located on high ground to the east of the road to Bakhmut which could serve as a supply route.
In the north, both sides reported fighting around the plateau around the Berkhovskoye reservoir. Russia’s Defense Ministry said over the weekend that its forces were collecting reservoirs to “increase the strength of the defense line.”
Russian military blogger Gray Zone, which is affiliated with Wagner, reported on Friday that Ukraine’s newly won position gave it “an advantageous tactical position, which allows it to conduct reconnaissance and use any weapon” on Russian forces in the valley below. and to the city itself.
But as Russian forces have disappeared throughout the city, Ukrainian officials say attacks on Ukrainian fighters inside the city have only intensified.
“The enemy is above all trying to capture the city itself, making a desperate effort for this purpose,” said Colonel Cherevaty.
Natalia Novosolova and Anastasia Kuznetsova contribute to research.
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