Ukrainian forces have reportedly blown up a bridge near the eastern city of Bakhmut, in a sign they may be planning to retreat from the area, which would give Russia a significant, symbolic boost ahead of the first anniversary of the war.
Troops blew up the bridge on Monday, according to a local Donetsk region news site. Ukraine denies it intends to leave Bakhmut, despite six months of heavy fighting and reportedly dwindling stockpiles.
It appears the Kremlin is concentrating maximum force on capturing Bakhmut before the one-year anniversary of the invasion on 24 February. Ukraine and its western allies have said over the past week that Russia had already begun a new offensive across the contact line in an attempt to gain ground before new western supplies arrived in the spring.
“It is clear that we are in a race of logistics,” Jens Stoltenberg, head of Nato, told reporters in Brussels on Monday.
Late on Tuesday Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, described the situation on the frontline as “extremely difficult”, especially in Donetsk and Luhansk.
“It is literally a battle for every metre of Ukrainian land,” Zelensky said in his evening address to the nation.
A Russian victory in Bakhmut would give the Kremlin a boost after months of setbacks and would be a stepping stone to fight for the two next big Ukrainian-controlled cities.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner group whose mercenaries have been fighting for months to take Bakhmut, however said the battle was far from over. “Bakhmut will not be taken tomorrow, because there is heavy resistance and grinding, the meat grinder is working,” he said, according to his press service. “We will not be celebrating in the near future,” he added.
He said that Ukraine is “becoming more active, pulling up more and more new reserves”.
White House spokesperson John Kirby said Russian forces have made incremental progress in the last day or two in their assault on Bahkmut but it is unclear if it will fall.
Russian forces now occupy areas to the north and south of Bakhmut and have been attempting to overwhelm Ukrainian forces by ceaselessly throwing streams of infantry soldiers at the Ukrainian frontlines.
“The Russians next to Bakhmut are trying to rely more on manpower than on armoured vehicles,” said Serhiy Cherevaty, Ukraine’s military spokesperson for the eastern command. He told Ukraine’s Telemarathon on Sunday that the Russians were using small tactical groups to approach Ukrainian troops and try to engage them in close-combat battles, not risking their heavy equipment in the current weather conditions and Ukraine’s ability to target it.
The fight to control Bakhmut began in June and has become one of the war’s bloodiest battles, with Russia concentrating a huge number of resources on capturing the town.
Social media posts indicate Ukraine has suffered thousands of casualties in and around the city, in particular since Russia mobilised thousands of men in October. Drone footage published by Ukraine’s military as well as graveyards in southern Russia show Russian losses have been enormous.
The blown-up bridge is reportedly located between Bakhmut and Kostyantynivka the next major city under Ukrainian control, according to Eastern Edition, a local news Telegram channel, which posted videos from the area.
Aside from the blown-up bridge, the Donetsk regional administration announced new measures restricting journalists’ access to Bakhmut on Monday, citing the danger of Russian reconnaissance groups attempting to penetrate the town. Also on Monday, Russia’s ministry of defence claimed victory over Krasna Hora, a settlement north of Bakhmut, but Cherevaty, refuted the claim.
The BBC, which visited the town on Sunday, reported street fighting in some areas and that ammunition stockpiles were dwindling. Capt Mykhailo from the 93rd Mechanised brigade told the BBC they had ammunition shortages of “all kinds, especially artillery rounds”, but were managing to hold their positions.
A Ukrainian commander of the Svoboda battalion, stationed in Bakhmut, told Ukraine’s Radio Svoboda that most of the town, especially the “heart and centre” was fully under Ukrainian army control and the street battles were not as they had been in Soledar, a city north of Bakhmut that has been captured by Russia.
The Russian assault on Bakhmut has been led by Wagner, a private Russian military group with a reputation for ruthlessness. Wagner’s sponsor, Yevheny Prigozhin, recruited thousands of Russian prisoners to bulk up the force in the autumn, offering them freedom after six months if they fought in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said in early February that his country was determined to hold Bakhmut, calling it “Fortress Bakhmut”. But, according to the Washington Post, US officials have tried to persuade him to prioritise preparations for a counteroffensive to take back what the US considers more important territory. US officials emphasised that time was of the essence as the level of American support could not be guaranteed.
Stoltenberg, who earlier said Russia had shown it was prepared to accept a heavy number of casualties, said on Tuesday that the allies should increase weapons supplies to Ukraine as there were “no signs that President Putin is preparing for peace. What we see is the opposite, he is preparing for more war, for new offensives and new attacks.”
Reuters contributed to this report
