Wagner trying to break into Bakhmut center, enemy taking losses in fierce fighting, says General Syrskyi
The situation in Bahmut remains difficult (Photo:Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty/Serhii Nuzhnenko via REUTERS)
The situation in Donetsk Oblast’s town of Bakhmut remains difficult, with fighters from the Russian Wagner mercenary company trying to break through to the central areas of the city, the Commander of Ukraine’s Ground Forces, Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, said on Telegram on March 13.
Syrskyi said that Wagner’s assault units are advancing from several directions, trying to break through Ukrainian defenses.
“During tough fighting, our defenders are inflicting significant losses on the enemy,”he said.
“All the enemy’s attempts to capture the city are repelled by the artillery, tanks, and other means of fire,” he added.
Fighting for control of Bakhmut has been going on since July 2022, with the town being one of the hottest spots in the war zone. Ukrainian defenders are continuing their defense in the face of constant assaults by Russian troops, who are unsuccessfully trying to surround and capture the town.
The Russian invaders threw trained units of Wagner’s PMC and other regular units of the Russian army into their attempts to capture the city. Ukraine’s Defense Ministry estimates the daily losses of Russia in the battles for Bakhmut at 500 people killed and wounded.
Western intelligence estimates the total losses of the invaders during the storming of Bakhmut at between 20,000 and 30,000 killed.
On Feb. 28, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar reported that reinforcements had been sent to Bakhmut. She said that defending the city was a military, not a political decision.
On March 6, the decision to continue and strengthen the defense in Bakhmut was unanimously supported at a meeting of the High Command attended by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The Ukrainian military command said that, by defending Bakhmut, the Armed Forces achieve the following goals:
- prevent the enemy from systematically breaking through Ukrainian defenses;
- inflict maximum losses on the Russians in terms of personnel and equipment,exhausting the enemy’s forces.
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