Russian forces have had some success in the eastern front line town of Bakhmut, the Ukrainian military said, adding that its fighters were still holding out in a months-long battle in which both sides They have suffered heavy casualties.
In southern Ukraine, the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog stated that there had been a significant increase in the number of troops in the Russian-occupied Zaporizhia nuclear power plant region and that it could no longer be protected.
The mining town of Bakhmut and surrounding towns in the eastern industrial region of Donetsk have been the focus of assault for much of the 13-month Russian invasion of neighboring Ukraine.
“The enemy forces had some success in their actions aimed at storming the city of Bakhmut,” the General Staff of the Ukrainian armed forces said in a regular report late on Wednesday.
“Our defenders hold the city and repel numerous enemy attacks.”
The daily average of Russian attacks against the front line reported by the Ukrainian General Staff has decreased for four consecutive weeks since the beginning of March, from 124 attacks in the week of March 1-7 to 69 in the last seven days. On Wednesday only 57 attacks were registered.
Reuters journalists near the front west of Bakhmut and further north also reported a marked drop in the intensity of Russian attacks last week.
Russian officers say their forces continue to gain ground in street-to-street fighting inside Bakhmut.
Reuters could not verify these reports about the battlefield.
CANNOT PROTECT ZAPORIJIA
The Zaporizhia power station was captured by Russian troops in the first weeks of the war, a year ago, and attempts to reduce fighting and shelling around it have failed, despite fears of a nuclear disaster.
Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), who visited the plant again on Wednesday, told the Russian press that there had been a “significant increase” in the number of troops in the region.
“It is obvious that military activity is increasing throughout this region. So the plant cannot be protected,” he said.
Reuters had access to a recording of the briefing.
Grossi said he was shelving plans for a security zone around the plant so he could propose specific protection measures acceptable to both Russia and Ukraine.
The plant was a highly prized part of the Ukrainian power grid, accounting for around 20% of the nation’s electricity generation before the invasion. It has not produced electricity since September, when the last of its six reactors went offline.
The IAEA has kept monitors at the plant since September, when Grossi went to the facilities fearing a possible nuclear accident.
Russian forces shelled towns in the central Zaporizhia region, including the disputed center of Hulyaipole, the Ukrainian General Staff reported.
TARGET CHANGE
Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov, who has served in the army, said that while the offensive on Bakhmut was still intense, “the bottom line is that Russian troops are starting to move from one place to another.”
“Now it seems that the enemy has shifted its focus to the city itself: that is where the most intense fighting is now taking place,” Zhdanov said in a YouTube video.
Another Ukrainian military analyst, Roman Svitan, who is also a colonel in the Ukrainian reserves, stated that the situation in Bakhmut has stabilized and that the main task of the Ukrainians there, to destroy the Russian forces, was being accomplished.
Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar claimed in a social media post that while the losses were unavoidable, “the enemy’s losses are much higher.”
The Ukrainian army also reported the resumption of shelling against the city of Kherson, in the south, and other towns on the western bank of the Dnieper River, which divides the country.
Ukrainian air forces destroyed a Russian Su-24M bomber. Missiles and artillery hit two concentration areas of Russian forces, an ammunition depot and two fuel depots in the past 24 hours, he added.
What Russia has called a “special military operation” to reduce a threat to its own security has killed thousands of soldiers on both sides, tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians and displaced millions of people. The invasion has also shaken the world economy and disrupted international relations.
Britain, the United States and Ukraine’s European allies have provided it with arms and money, describing the invasion as an imperialist land grab by Russia.