|
Bakhmut, PBS |
"What
Konashenkov [Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov]
described, unfortunately, is called 'a rout' and not a re-grouping."
"The loss of the Berkhivka reservoir -- the loss of this territory they gave up -- that's 5 sq km, just today."
"The
enemy has completely freed up the Chasiv Yar-Bakhmut road which we had
blocked. The enemy is now able to use this road, and secondly they have
taken tactical high ground under which Bakhmut is located."
Yevgeny Prigozhin, chief, Wagner Group
"Our
path ahead is not easy [but Ukraine is] much stronger now than last
year or in any other year of this war for freedom and independence of
our country."
"We are preparing a counterattack for the illegally occupied areas based
on our constitutionally-defined legitimate borders, which are
recognized internationally."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
"Our troops are gradually advancing in two directions in the suburbs
of Bakhmut ... however, the situation in the city itself is more
complicated."
"Thanks to the competent
planning of the command and the courage of our fighters, the enemy is
not able to take the city under its control."
Ukrainian deputy defence minister Hanna Malyar
|
Ukrainian soldiers fire a cannon near Bakhmut on Friday. (Libkos/The Associated Press) |
Friday,
Moscow had little option but to acknowledge its forces had fallen back
north of Ukraine's battlefield city of Bakhmut following a strong
Ukrainian offensive. Moscow claims it is a regrouping tactic for its
forces. A claim cuttingly refuted by the head of Russia's private Wagner
army. There are similar reports of Ukrainian advances south of the
city, suggesting a co-ordinated push by Kyiv to have its military
encircle Russia's forces in Bakhmut, completely upending Moscow's
objective for months during bloody fighting.
Each
side reports the largest Ukrainian advances in six months, even though
Kyiv is downplaying suggestions that these events represent the launch
of the much-anticipated Ukrainian spring counteroffensive. Ukraine
launched an assault north of Bakhmut with over 1,000 troops and some 40
tanks, according to Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov.
If confirmed the scale of the assault would represent the largest
Ukrainian offensive since late fall.
Troops
in one area had indeed fallen back to regroup in more favourable
positions close to the Berkhivka reservoir northwest of Bakhmut, stated
Konashenkov as well as contending that Russian troops had repelled 26
attacks elsewhere. Statements that failed to impress Yevgeny Prigozhin,
Wagner Group's head, who scathingly begged to differ, his interpretation
of events pointing to yet another Russian rout by Ukrainian troops.
Prigozhin
in another video message stated that Ukraine troops seized high ground
overlooking Bakhmut, opening the main highway leading into the city from
the West. On its part, Ukraine typically withholds comment on
operations while they're underway. Its military command committed only
to saying its troops pushed forward about two km close to Bakhmut.
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A Ukrainian serviceman fires a rocket in the Kharkiv region | Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images |
Two
days earlier a Ukrainian unit boasted of having defeated a Russian
brigade southwest of the city, recapturing a swath of land. Where,
according to Prigozhin, the Russian brigade there too had fled. The
north and south flanks, guarded by regular Russian troops were
crumbling, according to Prigozhin. His own troops have been fighting to
push Ukrainian forces out of the western outskirts of Bakhmut. Seems
they're still under-equipped, taking heavy losses, and on their own.
The
tide appears to have distinctly turned in the 15-month-old war in the
six months during which Kyiv's troops were on the defensive as Russia
mounted its winter campaign bringing a bloody ground combat to the area,
while yielding incremental gains. With the turn of the year however,
Kyiv received hundreds of new Western tanks and armoured vehicles,
holding them in abeyance while preparing for the long-awaited
counteroffensive meant to recapture Russian-occupied Ukrainian
territory.
Still,
Ukrainian officials and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy himself play down
the suggestion the offensive has begun. Kyiv, states Zelenskyy,
requires additional time awaiting arrival of more equipment. A statement
that Prigozhin refers to as deceptive, that the Bakhmut advances
themselves amounted to the start of the spring offensive is underway.
One that Moscow has been preparing for since last fall, building lines
of anti-tank fortifications along hundreds of front miles.
In
the process, Russia is evacuating civilians living near the conflict
zone in Ukraine's partially occupied Zaporizhzhia province. The
commander of Russia's Black Sea Fleet said in comments published Friday
that its defences were being tightened in view of a flurry of Ukrainian
drone strikes targeting its home base, the port of Sevastopol, in
occupied Crimea.
"The commander of the 4th motorized rifle brigade, Colonel Vyacheslav
Makarov, personally led the battle from the [Bakhmut] front."
"While repulsing of a third attack, the brigade commander was seriously
wounded and died during the evacuation from the battlefield."
Moscow’s Ministry of Defense
|
Ukrainian soldiers prepare a multiple launch rocket system for firing
towards Russian troops near a frontline, in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia
region, on Friday. (Reuters) |
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