Bachmut persists – but Ukrainians’ morale is down 11-year-old killed by narcos – then neighborhood tore down their houses

On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that he had consulted his top generals and that an agreement had been reached. Both the commander-in-chief of the army, Valeriy Zalushnyi, and the commander of the ground forces, Olexandr Syrsky, spoke out in favor of continuing the defense of Bakhmut.

In doing so, they sent a clear signal against the rumors circulating online that Ukraine was about to withdraw from Bakhmut. As the New York Times reported, several Ukrainian brigades went on the offensive over the weekend and appeared able to push back Russian forces somewhat. Zelenskyj said every evening in his video message:

The New York Times also reports that the Ukrainian strategy now consists of further weariing Russia in Bakhmut in order to liberate occupied territory elsewhere. Ukraine argues that the high losses on its own side are justified. However, the Ukrainian soldiers on the ground are increasingly doubting whether they will hold the city.

Lack of support

Reporters from the independent Ukrainian newspaper Kiyv Independent were able to talk to several soldiers fighting in Bakhmut. Their reports from the front are shocking – and sobering.

Infantryman Serhiy, for example, says that he and his comrades are shelled for hours by infantry fighting vehicles and mortars, and no one does anything about it.

By support, Serhiy actually means: mortar fire, tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, drones. But these funds are not coming, while the Russian armed forces seem to have an abundance of them. The misunderstanding on the Ukrainian side is great, says Serhiy. There is a particular lack of armored personnel carriers:

Ammunition is a rare commodity

Illia can at least partially answer one of these questions. The man is a mortar gunner and belongs to the 3017th unit of the Ukrainian National Guard. He is also employed by Bachmut. He tells the Kyiv Independent where the problems lie on his side:

And if that wasn’t problematic enough, the mortars themselves are completely obsolete. According to Illia, they date from 1938 to 1943 and are completely unreliable. Hitting something with it borders on a miracle; but with enough ammunition you could make up for it. With ten injections a day, that is wishful thinking.

Mortar gunner Mykola also tells the “Kiyv Independent” that there is not enough ammunition. Soviet-made supplies were running out, so NATO-standard shells would be used more often, despite the age-old mortars. When the fighting was still around Soledar, there was an abundance of shells, but here in Bakhmut the logistics don’t work. No wonder that the last paved access road to the city has now been made impassable by Russian artillery.

Poorly trained soldiers are burned

All the soldiers interviewed by the “Kiyv Independent” agree on one thing: the newcomers in Bakhmut are far too ill-prepared for the situation. Some of them had just learned how to use a gun. In just two weeks, the fresh soldiers would receive minimal training before being sent directly to the front lines. However, the local veterans prefer several months of training.

Serhiy had been told that he would not go directly to the front lines, but that he would first be stationed a little further back. And then he was shipped here in the middle of the night, straight to Bachmut.

Most fighting brigades were ill-prepared. The soldiers rarely have the necessary training for the heavy battles of Bakhmut. Another Serhiy, a little younger, says:

The result: a terrifying number of injuries and deaths. The battalion, which includes Boris, a paramedic, was sent to Bakhmut in December. At that time there were about 500 men. The situation is different now: “Last month we were just over 150,” says Boris. Infantryman Serhiy agrees:

Russia is also suffering

But it doesn’t look as rosy as it used to be for the attackers either. While Yevgenyi Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary group, predicted Bakhmut’s “imminent encirclement” a few days ago, he complained about the lack of ammunition via social media on Monday. His own troops now risked being surrounded if a Ukrainian counter-attack actually took place.

The internal power struggle between the Russian armed forces is coming to a head. Prigozhin, who has repeatedly railed against the incompetence of the defense ministry and army command in the past, also reported that Wagner’s deputy was banned from military headquarters in the region on Monday.

The situation in Bakhmut is also very precarious for the Russian soldiers themselves. Their commanders’ tactics are brutal but efficient: First, they send in a small, ill-equipped shock troop (mainly ex-detainees of the Wagner group). The Ukrainian defenders open fire and reveal their position. This is then bombarded with artillery and direct support fire, and only then come the “real” soldiers. Exactly: cruel, but effective.