Ukraine claimed its armed forces had conducted a successful counterattack on the outskirts of Bakhmut, the bombed-out eastern city which Russian forces have struggled to fully capture in nine months of attritional warfare.
“In some areas of the front, the enemy could not resist the onslaught of the Ukrainian defenders and retreated to a distance of up to 2km,” Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrsky, commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, said on Wednesday.
Syrsky claimed Ukraine’s fierce defence of the city had “exhausted” the troops of Russia’s private paramilitary group Wagner, whose units are partly composed of former prisoners, forcing them “to be replaced in certain directions by less well-prepared units of Russian regular troops [who] were defeated and fled” in the operation.
Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin confirmed the partial retreat from an area on the outskirts of the city in Donetsk province.
The recovery of territory around Bakhmut, where Ukraine’s forces have been pushed out of much of the city except a far western district, comes as it prepares to launch a spring counteroffensive backed by fresh supplies of Nato-grade weaponry. The incremental operation raised hopes in Kyiv that it can liberate more territory in the eastern and southern regions, where Russian forces continue to occupy 18 per cent of its territory.
“Despite the significant concentration of troops and the loud statements of Russian war criminals about their intention to take Bakhmut by May 9, the enemy was still unable to capture the Ukrainian city,” Syrsky said, adding: “The battle for Bakhmut continues”.
Syrsky praised the battlefield success of the army’s third assault brigade. Its members posted videos on social media showing troops storming Russian positions in armoured vehicles, battling opposing fighters in their trenches and walking past the bodies of Russian troops.
Summing up the results of the battle, the unit said 13 Russian soldiers were killed and 25 were wounded as many more fled. Members of the Ukrainian brigade have recently posted videos of imprisoned Russian fighters.
Prigozhin, a close confidant of Russian president Vladimir Putin, has accused the country’s military leaders of failing to provide his units with enough ammunition.
“Our army is fleeing. The 72nd brigade pissed away 3 sq km this morning, where I had lost around 500 men,” Prigozhin said in a video address on Tuesday, confirming Ukraine’s successful counteroffensive.
Answering questions from a reporters in a statement on Wednesday, Prigozhin said: “There is a serious risk of encirclement of the Private Military Company of Wagner in Bakhmut as a result of the failure of the flanks. The flanks are already cracking and falling through.”
He added: “In the absence of ammunition, the ‘meat grinder’ will work in the opposite direction: the armed forces of Ukraine will destroy PMC Wagner.”
Last week, Prigozhin posted a video of himself standing over a number of dead Wagner fighters and threatened to pull his troops out of Bakhmut if Russia’s defence ministry failed to provide more ammunition.
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