Russia sends elite Wagner mercenaries to crush the resistance in Bakhmut

The situation on the Bakhmut battlefield is “extremely tense,” according to Ukraine’s defense ministry, with the enemy advancing from the north and south through the ruins of what this city of 70,000 inhabitants in the heart of Donbass. “The Russians have sent the best-prepared units of the Wagner Group to the attack, which are trying to break through the defense of our troops and surround the city,” he reported. Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander of the Ground Army.

The battle for the mining town began in the summer and appears to be drawing to a close amid complaints from Kiev, which laments the slow arrival of weapons promised by its allies. Wagner’s group, made up of paramilitaries and mercenaries, strives prove that your elite corps is more effective than the army poorly trained ex-prisoners who were in the front lines until then and who were unable to break through the local positions.

At the shooting range at the gates of Kramatorsk, Constantine, called Toten, is testing a new model of M16 rifles that Canada sent to Kiev and which began to be distributed among the forces deployed in Donbas a month ago. “The promises are very good, but from the time they were given to the arrival of the weapons on the battlefield, too much time passes and which favors Russia. “Deliveries must be speeded up anyway,” says Sergeant Konstantin, a member Azov Special Forceswho for several weeks made up the Third Separate Assault Brigade of the Ground Army and are on the front line in Bakhmut.

Looking at the pace of the battle, he is not optimistic and believes that they could lose it very quickly, “but if new tanks start arriving, armored vehicles, rocket launchers and assault rifles we’ll bring it back in a few months. They are currently practicing with new rifles that have allowed them to ditch the AK47 they have been using so far.

His words are silenced by the continuous gunshots and explosions that echo in the old mine converted into a military training area. This 25-year-old, born in Kiev and who was deployed on the northern front of the capital in the first months of the war, does not see the end of the war coming and thinks that “Only an internal rebellion in Russia against Putin can end this.. We will fight until we regain Crimea. We have enough men. What we need are good weapons.”

Konstantin trades his rifle for a phone to show a Telegram group of his brigade, in which they start a message for help to get Night vision which enable them to fight twenty-four hours a day. Time is running out against Ukraine in this fight which seems to be in its final episode.

heroic struggle

The request for weapons is the same message that Volodímir Zelenski and other powerful people in the government persistently repeat in every intervention. And that was the message they conveyed to the President of the United States, Joe Biden, during his official visit to Kiev last week, a message that received no response. After the Allies committed to sending Leopard tanks, Kiev’s next target is F16 fighter jets. The president described the soldiers deployed in Bakhmut as “heroes” and environment because “the enemy constantly destroys everything that can be used to protect our troops”.

The rains of the last days have turned the front in Donbass a huge swamp in which the army resists as best it can in flooded trenches and vehicles have serious problems moving along certain open routes through the fields in the area. Added to this are the low temperatures, which covered the darkest parts with ice.

This town located in the middle of nowhere has gained importance due to the intensity of the fighting in recent months. With their next win, Russia will take it devastated areabut believe that they open the door to capture Kramatorsk, Slaviansk and the rest of the urban centers of Donbas, which is the priority of his “special operation”.

Ukraine’s urgent need for arms and ammunition seems to extend to Russia, which would look for an offer in China, according to US intelligence. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned China “very clearly of the implications and consequences of providing such support” to Moscow. In Kiev, the head of the Intelligence Service, Kirilo Budanov, said in an interview with the Voice of America radio station that the missile reserves of the Russian armed forces “almost zero.” Lieutenant-General Mikola Oleschuk emphasized on the Ukrinform portal that since September they managed to destroy 650 enemy missiles.