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The battle for the industrial city of Bakhmut has turned into the longest and probably deadliest battle of Russia’s assault on Ukraine that has been going on for a year.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (45) admits difficulties for the first time on Thursday evening. Neither side wants to give up, despite the precarious situation. Until now. An overview of the situation at the front in Bakhmut in five points.
The front line
Ukrainian troops are practically surrounded in Bakhmut. The Russians are harassing them from three sides. Only one front is still open in the west. For how long – unclear.
Because the Russian troops have made a large advance around the city in the past month. This is according to data from the American think tank Institute for the Study of War. The counter-attacks of the Ukrainians are therefore negligible.
Russian military blogger Milkchronicles speculates that Russian forces will next attempt a double encirclement of Bakhmut. For example, the Ukrainian supply line in the Donbass would be cut off. That would probably be the death knell for the Ukrainian defense in Bakhmut.
The city
Before the invasion, about 70,000 people lived in Bachmut. By December, only about 10,000 people remained. The rest: fled or died in trench warfare, writes the Ukrainian portal “LB” at the beginning of this year.
Ukrainian troops say it is difficult to say how many civilians are left in Bakhmut, with estimates now ranging from 1,000 to 5,000.
The city itself was razed to the ground. Images show demolished houses, buried streets, the sky is gray and dark with smoke from the burning buildings. A ghost town.
The weapons
The battle for Bachmut has escalated into a fierce material battle. The two sides fire thousands and thousands of projectiles at each other every day. But Ukraine’s western-fed munitions depots aren’t infinite either.
It is known that the Ukrainian army is running out of ammunition to defend itself against the Russians in Bakhmut. Oleksiy Resnikov (56), Ukraine’s defense minister, told EU colleagues: Kiev needs at least 250,000 155 mm artillery shells per month to defend itself against Russia in the Donbass. But they don’t. And supplies from the West are still a long time coming.
The soldiers
“For me, the most important thing is that we don’t lose our soldiers,” Zelensky said Thursday. And yet the Ukrainian military leadership continues to insist on the defense of the “Fortress Bakhmut”. It’s not for nothing that the city has been given the morbid nickname ‘meat grinder’ in recent months. According to estimates, the Ukrainians there lose 100 to 200 soldiers every day, writes The Guardian.
According to “Welt”, some Ukrainian companies have lost more than 80 percent of their soldiers. To fill these gaps, Ukraine needs to send more new reserves to the front lines. However, Ukraine currently lacks well-trained soldiers. The Ukrainian state has not officially announced how many soldiers actually lost their lives in Bakhmut.
The moral
In recent weeks, dozens of videos have surfaced on Tiktok posted by Ukrainian soldiers in and around Bakhmut urging Zelensky to order the retreat. That writes The Guardian.
Despite the dwindling morale, retreat is hardly possible, the symbolic power of the small industrial town is too great. Ukraine gave Bakhmut political prominence by making the city a symbol of Zelensky resistance. From a military point of view, however, a withdrawal should soon become a fact.
“Of course the generals on the ground will make the right decisions if there is a risk of losing our people because they are surrounded,” says Zelenski, referring to a possible retreat.
Source: Blick
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
