Russian forces press battle for Ukraine’s Bakhmut
- Ukrainian President Zelensky said that Russian forces ‘are constantly destroying everything that can be used to protect our positions for fortification and defence’
- The fall of Bakhmut would open the way to the capture of the last remaining urban centres in the Donetsk region
Russian forces, including mercenary fighters from the Wagner group, are trying to cut the Ukrainian defenders’ supply lines to the city, scene of some of the war’s bloodiest battles, and force them to surrender or withdraw.
That would give Russia its first major prize in more than half a year and open the way to the capture of the last remaining urban centres in the Donetsk region, which Moscow claims to have annexed along with three other Ukrainian regions.
“Despite significant losses, the enemy threw in the most prepared assault units of Wagner, who are trying to break through the defences of our troops and surround the city,” Ukraine’s Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi was quoted as saying on a military messaging platform.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has described Bakhmut as “our fortress” that must be defended to the last, said in his nightly radio address that Russian forces “are constantly destroying everything that can be used to protect our positions for fortification and defence”.