Defense of Bakhmut is a success, Danilov says
Ukrainian troops strike at Russian occupants in Bakhmut (Photo:Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty/Serhii Nuzhnenko via REUTERS)
The grinding, 10-month-long battle for Bakhmut,
Donetsk Oblast, remains a successful defensive operation, Ukraine’s National
Security and Defense Council (NSDC) Secretary, Oleksiy Danilov, told CNN on May
23.
During the operation, Russia has suffered significant losses in personnel and equipment, according to Danilov. Furthermore, he claimed that a part of the city remains under Ukraine’s control, disputing Moscow’s assertion that Bakhmut is now entirely in Russian hands.
Danilov stated that the decision to continue defending Bakhmut was made at the strategic level and had been constantly reevaluated. He emphasized that there had been a large number of Russian military personnel, special forces, airborne troops, and other military units, who had been eliminated in Bakhmut. Ukrainian defenders also destroyed a significant amount of enemy equipment, and Russia has expended a significant amount of ammunition.
"This is our strategic defensive operation, which is proceeding successfully for us because we have held this territory for 10 months, where we have been destroying them every day; what can they (the Russians) boast of?" Danilov added.
On May 20, the leader of Russia’s Wagner Group PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, claimed that his mercenaries had fully captured Bakhmut. The Ukrainian Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defense denied this claim and said that fighting was still ongoing in the city.
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