Ukraine says its troops in Bakhmut are under severe pressure

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS - In Brief 28 Feb 2023 by Alex Teddy

On February 28 Kyiv made the statement about the city which has been under Russian attack for months. It seems that Russia is desperate to win a battle for the first time since the summer of 2022. Almost every building in Bakhmut is damaged or destroyed. The city has salt mines and used to produce sparkling wine. Virtually the whole of the 70,000 pre-war civilian population has been evacuated. Bakhmut is on some road and rail links but these are so damaged by fighting that they will not give Russia any advantage.  Wagner troops have been fighting for the city. Some are barely trained prison recruits thrown at the Ukrainian lines as cannon fodder. But there are also professional Wagner troops. The owner of the Wagner Group for Yevgeny Prigozhin has publicly lacerated the Russian Army for not giving his men enough ammunition. Prigozhin has been near the Bakhmut Front. He bragged that his men captured several villages. There is an unfriendly rivalry between Wagner and the regular army. The NATO Secretary-General reaffirmed that the alliance will stand by Ukraine as long as it takes. Ukrainians have been tacitly admitting that Bakhmut will fall within a week. Zelensky said that Ukraine shall defend the city as long as possible implying that at some point it will be impossible. Ukraine says that the Russians are refining their tactics. Ukraine seems to want to hang on until it receives Western weapons. Its troops are being trained in Leopard 2 and Challenger 2 tanks. It anticipated that there would be a major Ukrainian offensive in April or May. But Russia has constructed defenses in east Ukraine. Moreover, some Russians drafted in September 2022 are being trained even now ...

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