Ukrainian commander: situation “actually difficult”

During a visit to the front in the disputed city of Bakhmut, the commander of the Ukrainian special forces, Viktor Horenko, described the situation as “really difficult”. Nevertheless, the troops knew how to act against the majority of Russian invaders, Horenko said, according to a statement released Wednesday.

“Your work here shows once again that the advantage of the special forces is quality over quantity,” he said. Photos of Horenko with soldiers were also published.

Despite the superiority of the Russian attackers, it was possible to hit the enemy at key points and destroy invaders, Horenko said. This would prevent the Russian troops from advancing and taking the city.

According to the Ukrainian commander of the Eastern Group of Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyj, the Ukrainian soldiers “destroy the most professional units, weapons and military equipment”. For Russia, eastern Ukraine is the only sector of the front where they have made at least some progress since the offensive began, he told the Interfax news agency.

Russia has been reporting for days that it has almost taken the city

After the defeats in the north and south of Ukraine, Syrskyj says the Russian leadership must show at least “the least success” in occupying the Donbass. “Without taking Donbass, the occupiers could not launch an offensive towards Kramatorsk and Siversk.” The battle for Bakhmut requires special skills and creates difficulties, especially for troops attacking from the forest-steppe, the commander said.

By contrast, Russia’s Defense Ministry and Wagner’s private army have been reporting for days that they have taken more than 80 percent of the city, which once had a population of 70,000. Bachmut is largely destroyed by the battle with the most losses so far in the war that has been going on for 14 months.

Ukraine does not want to give up Bakhmut to prevent Russian troops from breaking further inland. The city is the main part of the line of defense between the cities of Siversk and Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, created after the Russian conquest of Sieverodonetsk and Lysychansk. If the city fell, Russian troops would have access to the major cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk. This would bring closer a complete conquest of the Donetsk region planned by Russia.