Russia claims control of eastern Bakhmut, Ukrainians resist

By Olena Harmash

KIEV, March 8 (Reuters) – The leader of the Russian mercenary group Wagner said on Wednesday his forces had taken full control of the eastern part of the Ukrainian town of Bakhmut, the scene of one of the bloodiest battles in the war, which lasts a year.

If the claim is true, it would mean that Russian forces control nearly half of the city in their costly offensive to claim their first major victory in months.

However, the Ukrainian defenders remain defiant. Last week they appeared to be preparing for a tactical withdrawal from Bakhmut, but military and political leaders are now talking about holding their ground and inflicting as many casualties on the Russian assault force as possible.

Wagner’s boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said his fighters, who had led the Russian campaign to take Bakhmut, had now captured the eastern part of the city.

“The whole east of the Bakhmutka River is completely under the control of Wagner,” Prigozhin said on Telegram.

The river bisects the town of Bakhmut, which sits on the edge of a strip of the Donetsk region already largely under Russian occupation.

Prigozhin has made premature success claims on other occasions and Reuters was unable to verify the latest claims.

Ukrainian military statements had previously said there could be “conditions” in Bakhmut for a Ukrainian offensive.

“The main task of our troops in Bakhmut is to reduce the enemy’s combat capability, to bleed his combat potential,” Serhi Cherevatyi, a spokesman for the military command of Israel, told state television on Tuesday. Eastern Ukraine.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in its report on Wednesday morning: “The enemy, despite heavy losses, (…) continues to storm the city of Bakhmut”.

LITANY OF DEVASTATED CITIES

Russia, which claims to have annexed nearly 20% of Ukrainian territory, has made progress in recent weeks around Bakhmut, but its winter offensive has produced no significant advances in assaults further north and south.

According to Moscow, the capture of Bakhmut would be a step towards the conquest of the industrial region of Donbass, made up of the provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk. Western analysts say Bakhmut has little strategic value.

However, Kiev says Russia’s losses there could determine the future course of the war, with decisive battles expected in the coming months when the weather clears up and Ukraine receives more aid. military, including heavy tanks.

The months of war there have been among the deadliest and most destructive since Russia invaded in February last year, adding Bakhmut’s name to a list of devastated cities including Mariupol, Severodonetsk and Lisichansk.

A Ukrainian military drone showed the extent of the destruction in Bakhmut, filming burning buildings and smoke billowing from residential areas.

Irina Vereshchuk, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, said less than 4,000 civilians, including 38 children, out of a pre-war population of around 70,000, remained in the city, which is now largely in ruins after months of bombings.

“The situation in the city is difficult. The enemy is actively attacking our positions, but they are not succeeding and suffering colossal losses,” a Ukrainian border guard said in a video released by the State Border Service.

“Probably out of spite they tried to blow up two bridges. But we continue to receive everything we need. The city is still standing, because Bakhmut was, is and will be Ukraine. We will keep in touch.”

Ukraine’s general staff also said the Russian military carried out more than 30 unsuccessful attacks in the past day alone near Orijovo-Vasilivka, 20 kilometers (12 miles) northwest of Bakhmut. They also shelled the vicinity of 10 settlements along the Bakhmut section of the front line.

EXPLOSIONS IN GAS PIPELINES

On a separate note, The New York Times reported that intelligence information investigated by US authorities indicates that a pro-Ukrainian group was behind last year’s attacks on the Nord Stream gas pipelines. There was no evidence of Kyiv government involvement.

The underwater explosions in the gas pipelines between Russia and Germany, which took place seven months after the start of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, occurred in the exclusive economic zones of Sweden and Denmark in Baltic sea. Both countries concluded that the explosions were deliberate, but did not say who might be responsible.

The New York Times article published on Tuesday quoted US officials as saying there was no evidence that President Volodymyr Zelensky or his top aides were involved or that the perpetrators were acting at the behest of a Ukrainian government official. .

The United States and NATO called the September 26 attacks an “act of sabotage”, while Russia blamed the West and called for an independent investigation. None of them provided any evidence.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said reports of the attacks were an attempt to divert attention.

(Reporting from Reuters offices; Writing by Angus MacSwan; Editing by Nick Macfie; Editing in Spanish by Tomás Cobos)