Denis Pushilin, acting head of the DPR, posted on his Telegram channel a video in which he said that he visited Bakhmut (Russian name Artemovsk). Gunshots and explosions are heard in the background, and the ruins of the city can be seen.
“Well, dear friends, here it is, our Artemovsk is being rescued by the Wagners,” said Pushilin. According to him, the armed forces of Ukraine “do not pity neither the city nor themselves, they are driven into a meat grinder.”
Pushilin promised to post a more detailed video “a little later”. “This is a small announcement… Our troops continue to liberate Russian lands,” he said.
On the same day, it was learned that Alexander Syrsky, commander of the ground forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, again visited “the warmest areas of the front in the direction of Bakhmut”.
According to the media center of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, during his visit Syrsky listened to reports from the commanders of the military units and groups, and also gave awards to the soldiers.
“Fighting is difficult for both sides. The enemy has adopted the so-called “Syria” tactic of destruction. Air strikes and artillery fire destroy buildings and positions. Bakhmut’s defense continues. “The situation is difficult, but controllable,” said the Ukrainian commander.
This tactic involves destroying important objects in the area so that they do not go to the enemy.
According to Syrsky, Ukraine has exhausted the Wagner PMC in Bakhmut, and now Russia is “forced to involve special forces and air strike units in the Bakhmut battles.”
The day before, Syrsky released a video recording of the situation in the spring water-filled trenches, where the fighters passed through a layer of liquid mud.
The situation in the city
The Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera published a report on Bakhmut. In an interview with the broadcast, the Ukrainian military confirmed that Russian forces were advancing into the interior of the city.
“It’s true what the media said, referring to NATO intelligence services, the Russians have advanced a lot in the center of Bakhmut lately and our supply lines have become more fragile,” said Ukrainian military personnel.
The soldiers shared with reporters their assumptions that the idea of the General Staff was to “destroy the maximum number of Russian soldiers and stay in the western urban area to focus their attention” as the Ukrainian counteroffensive was prepared. .
“Only when things get too difficult and our people risk being encircled will they be ordered to retreat,” Corriere Della Sera’s interlocutors said. said.
The Ukrainian army called drones with bombs and anti-tank missiles the most effective weapons for infantry. According to them, battles between tanks in the city practically do not take place.
On April 3, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the private military company Wagner, said that the PMC flag and the Russian flag were inscribed in memory of the military commander Vladlen Tatarsky (aka Maxim Fomin), who died in an explosion in a cafe. In St. Petersburg, they grew up on the Bakhmut city administration.
“We got Bakhmut legally. The commanders of the units that captured the administration and the entire central district will also carry and hang these banners,” said Prigozhin, adding that “the enemy remains in the western quarters.”
On March 16, The New York Times reported that the Pentagon had raised concerns to the Ukrainian leadership about the high consumption of ammunition near Bakhmut. According to the American side, this may prevent the Ukrainian army from carrying out the planned spring counterattack. According to the publication, the United States warned Ukraine against the excessive use of artillery in urban warfare, as Kiev’s allies were unable to organize a sufficient supply of shells.
Bakhmut is located 80 km north of Donetsk. RIA Novosti states that this is an important transport hub for supplying Ukraine’s armed forces. Now the supply of the Ukrainian army in Bakhmut passes through the city of Chasov Yar. The battles for Bakhmut have been going on for more than six months.
In March, Ukrainian authorities reported that less than 4,000 people remained in the city. According to Irina Vereshchuk, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories, more than 70,000 people lived there before hostilities broke out. As the head of the regional administration Pavel Kirilenko noted, at the beginning of 2023 the city was destroyed by more than 60%.