The battle for Bakhmut, a city in eastern Ukraine and the scene of the longest battle since the Moscow offensive, is far from over, the head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group said on Tuesday.
Bakhmut has been at the center of months of heavy fighting in Russia’s nearly year-long offensive in Ukraine, with both sides suffering heavy losses.
Observers of the conflict downplayed the strategic importance of Bakhmut, but the city was an important political and symbolic prize.
It is located in the industrial area of Donetsk which is fully controlled by Moscow.
“Bakhmut will not be taken tomorrow, because there is heavy resistance and grinding, the meat grinder can be used,” said the head of Wagner Yevgeny Prigozhin as quoted by the press service.
“We will not be celebrating in the future,” he said.
He said that Ukraine “is becoming more active, attracting a lot of new reserves”.
“Every day, between 300 and 500 new fighters are approaching Bakhmut from all directions,” he said, adding that “the artillery fire is increasing every day”.
Kyiv on Monday acknowledged the “difficult” situation north of Bakhmut in the village of Paraskoviivka, saying it was “with intense attacks and attacks”.
The same day, Russia’s defense ministry said its forces had captured Krasna Gora, a village near Paraskoviivka.
According to Prigozhin, “heavy fighting” was taking place in the north.
The Kremlin-appointed leader of the Donetsk region, Denis Pushilin, said Tuesday there were no signs that Ukraine would surrender the city, which President Volodymyr Zelensky described as a “fortress”.
“We fully understand that now there is no prospect of the enemy leaving their positions without a fight,” Pushilin said as quoted by Russian news agencies.
Last week Pushilin said Russian forces had cut off three of four Ukrainian supply routes to Bakhmut.