Bakhmut

• Russian forces have lost more than 1,100 lives in the last several days.
• Many more have been gravely injured.
• More than 220 Ukrainian service members, according to Russia, have died.

As the conflict for Bakhmut continues, reports indicate that Russia and Ukraine have suffered significant losses.

Moscow has been waging a grueling war of attrition on eastern Ukraine for months.

Russian forces have lost more than 1,100 lives in the last several days, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and many more have been gravely injured.

Over the previous 24 hours, more than 220 Ukrainian service members, according to Russia, have died.

Despite having minimal strategic worth, according to analysts, Bakhmut has become a focus for Russian commanders who have found it difficult to bring any good news to the Kremlin.

By taking the city, Russia would be a little bit closer to its objective of dominating the entire Donetsk region, one of the four regions in eastern and southern Ukraine that it annexed last September after holding fraudulent referendums that were roundly denounced outside of Russia.

Russian forces are being constrained, according to Ukrainian commanders who have committed major resources to the city’s defense, and their plan is to stop Moscow from launching any more offensives in the near future.

“In less than a week, starting from 6 March, we managed to kill more than 1,100 enemy soldiers in the Bakhmut sector alone, Russia’s irreversible loss, right there, near Bakhmut,” Mr. Zelensky said in his nightly video address.

He claimed that 1,500 Russian servicemen suffered injuries severe enough to prevent them from participating in further combat.

The Russian defense ministry reported that “more than 220 Ukrainian servicemen” had been killed by Russian forces.

The Russian mercenary Wagner Group, according to Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander of the ground forces of Ukraine, was hitting his soldiers from a number of angles in an effort to get past defenses and go into the town’s key neighborhoods.

The paramilitary group is the driving force behind the Russian attack on Bakhmut. Yevgeny Prigozhin, its commander, has placed both his reputation and the reputation of his private army on capturing Bakhmut.

He said on Sunday that the situation in the city was “difficult, very difficult, the enemy is fighting for every meter”.

“And the closer to the city center, the fiercer the fighting,” he said in a voice recording published on Telegram.

After his envisioned capture of Bakhmut, “we will begin to reboot” and “will start recruiting new people from the regions”, he said.

And on Saturday, the Institute for the Study of War – a US think tank – reported that Moscow’s offense was stalling.

“Wagner Group fighters are likely becoming increasingly pinned in urban areas… and are therefore finding it difficult to make significant advances,” it said.

Only a few thousand of the 70,000 who were residing in Bakhmut prior to the invasion still do. The city used to be well known for its sizable winery, salt, and gypsum mines.

According to the governor of the Donetsk region, Pavlo Kyrylenko, those who stay in the city run the risk of leading dangerous lives. On Monday, four individuals were hurt in Bakhmut.

Bakhmut has acquired political significance in Ukraine as well, with President Zelensky elevating the city to the status of a symbol of resistance.

In December, he paid a visit to Washington, referring to it as “the fortress of our morale,” and presented a Bakhmut flag to the US Congress.

Between 20,000 and 30,000 Russian troops have reportedly been killed or injured in and around Bakhmut, according to Western officials.

A proposal presented to the Russian parliament on Monday proposes to raise the age range for conscription from 18–27 years to 21–30 years.

The conscription age would be extended to 10 or 11 years in 2024 or 2025 rather than the customary nine years. This would increase the number of men who are eligible to serve in the military.

Attempts by Russia to enlist thousands of fresh soldiers for the Ukrainian war in the past encountered considerable opposition. Long lines formed at border crossings in September after the announcement of a partial military mobilization as males eligible for the draught tried to evade the call-up.

Reports of males of combat age running away, according to the Kremlin, were overstated.

Seven locals were hurt on Monday in the Donetsk region outside of the fighting in Bakhmut, according to governor Pavlo Kyrylenko.

The regional governor of Luhansk, Serhiy Haidai, claimed that Russian bombardment on the battle line had “seriously intensified” further east. He also mentioned that Russia was stationing an increasing number of troops and equipment nearby.

According to the local administration, there were 47 attacks against Ukrainian forces in Zaporizhzhia in other parts of eastern Ukraine.

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• 221 pro-Moscow troops were killed and more than 300 were injured.
• Russia did not specify the number of dead at Bakhmut.
• Both sides have claimed to suffer and inflict heavy losses at Bakhmut.

Ukraine and Russia said on Saturday that hundreds of enemy troops had been killed in the previous 24 hours in the battle for Bakhmut, with Kyiv fighting off an unrelenting onslaught and a small river that bisects the town now defining the new front line.

According to Serhiy Cherevatyi, a Ukrainian military spokeswoman, 221 pro-Moscow troops were killed and more than 300 were injured in Bakhmut. According to Russia’s defense ministry, up to 210 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the Donetsk sector of the battlefield.

While Russia did not specify the number of dead at Bakhmut, the eastern Donetsk town has been the site of one of the bloodiest and longest clashes of the year-long conflict.

Both sides have claimed to suffer and inflict heavy losses at Bakhmut, though the precise number of casualties is impossible to confirm independently.

According to British military intelligence, Russia’s Wagner mercenary group has taken control of much of Bakhmut’s eastern region, an advance that the group’s head, Yevgeny Prigozhin, announced on Wednesday.

“In the city centre, the Bakhmutka River now marks the front line,” the British Defence Ministry said in its daily intelligence bulletin.

Ukraine insisted that it was holding on in Bakhmut and was giving a “decent rebuff” to Russian forces, with the commander in charge of defending Bakhmut saying its protection was key for a Ukrainian counter-strike.

“It is necessary to gain time to accumulate reserves and start a counter-offensive, which is not far off,” the military cited Colonel general Oleksandr Syrskyi as saying on Saturday.

According to Russia, taking Bakhmut would breach Ukrainian defenses and be a step towards seizing the whole Donbas industrial region, a significant aim. According to Kyiv, the conflict is wearing down Russia’s strongest units.

Prigozhin stated on Saturday that he is now 1.2 kilometers (0.75 miles) from the city’s administrative center. The center is located on the west bank of the Bakhmutka River.

British intelligence said that with the river running through some open ground, “this area has become a killing zone, likely making it highly challenging for Wagner forces attempting to continue their frontal assault westward.”

But the situation remained dangerous for Ukrainian forces.

“The Ukrainian force and their supply lines to the west remain vulnerable to the continued Russian attempts to outflank the defenders from the north and south,” it said.

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• Ukrainian military stated in its most recent news bulletin that “numerous attacks” had been repelled.
• The United States has announced an additional $400 million (£333 million) in military aid.
• President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned this week that the situation was growing “more and more difficult.”

Russian forces claim to be on the verge of capturing the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, which mercenaries say is almost completely surrounded.

The head of Russia’s Wagner private army said the country is “practically encircled” and that escape options are limited.

However, the Ukrainian military stated in its most recent news bulletin that “numerous attacks” had been repelled in the area of eastern Donetsk over the last 24 hours.

The United States has announced an additional $400 million (£333 million) in military aid to replenish Kyiv’s depleted ammunition inventories.

Col Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, visited Bakhmut on Friday for talks with local commanders about ways to strengthen frontline forces.

For nearly six months, Russian troops have been attempting to capture the city.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned this week that the situation on the eastern front line was growing “more and more difficult”.

Ukraine’s ever-dwindling ammunition reserves are a major source of anxiety, as the high-intensity battle with Russia shows no signs of abating.

Himars artillery rockets and howitzers

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the country’s latest delivery includes high-precision Himars artillery rockets and howitzers “which Ukraine is employing so well”.

President Zelenskyy had stated that artillery and shells were needed to “halt Russia”.

In addition, the US is providing tactical bridges ahead of Ukraine’s planned invasion.

The supply of such equipment, which allows armored vehicles to traverse rivers and ditches, comes as several Ukrainian military officials and analysts have predicted that the operation could begin in the coming weeks.

Elsewhere, a partial evacuation was planned on Thursday in Kupiansk, Kharkiv area, which was liberated from Russian occupation last September.

Limited mobility

Due to “constant” shelling by Russian forces, regional officials advised families with children and others “with limited mobility” to flee.

In a statement on Friday, Mr. Blinken said: “This military assistance package includes more ammunition for US-provided Himars and howitzers, which Ukraine is using so effectively to defend itself”.

He added that Washington would also be sending “ammunition for Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles, Armoured Vehicle Launched Bridges, demolitions munitions and equipment, and other maintenance, training and support”.

Himars proved to be extremely effective during Ukraine’s lighting counter-offensive late last year which saw almost the whole of the Kharkiv region brought back under Kyiv’s control.

Those advances – and the liberation of the southern city of Kherson – were the most significant front-line changes since Russia withdrew from areas around Kyiv in April.

America’s top diplomat emphasized in his statement that “the United States also continues to urge the world to support Ukraine” in protecting its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The fresh US military aid package was unveiled as US media reported that Ukraine may be running dangerously low on artillery stocks after more than a year since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion.

Both Ukraine and Russia are thought to be firing tens of thousands of artillery shells each day in what has been described as a high-intensity attrition war in recent months.

The Ukrainian military has not publicly commented on the supposed ammo shortage.

Most needed

However, President Zelenskyy on Thursday said that “artillery is number one that we need”.

He added that Kyiv also needed “a large quantity of shells” and warplanes to “expel” Russian troops from Ukraine’s territory.

Military support to Ukraine was likely to be the main topic of discussion when US President Joe Biden met German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Washington on Friday.

Mr. Biden hailed the German Chancellor for his country’s “profound” support for Ukraine.

Mr. Scholz said it was crucial to emphasize that this will continue “as long as it takes and as long as is necessary”.

A number of Ukraine’s Western partners have committed to providing tanks and artillery, but Kyiv insists that this must happen far faster to discourage any Russian invasion.

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• Moscow claims that capturing Bakhmut would pave the door for full control.
• Ukraine claims Bakhmut has little strategic relevance but has put up a strong fight.
• Rakhmanin believes that no line of defense should be permitted to fail.

Ukrainian forces held out in the destroyed eastern city of Bakhmut early Thursday, under continual attack from Russian troops seeking their first significant win in more than a year.

Moscow claims that capturing Bakhmut would pave the door for full control of the vital Donbas industrial region bordering Russia, which was one of the main goals of its February 24 assault.

Ukraine claims Bakhmut has little strategic relevance but has put up a strong fight. Not everyone in Ukraine believes that the defense of Bakhmut can continue indefinitely.

“I believe that sooner or later, we will probably have to leave Bakhmut. There is no sense in holding it at any cost,” Ukrainian member of parliament Serhiy Rakhmanin said.

“But, for the time being, Bakhmut will be defended with three goals in mind, the first of which is to inflict as many Russian losses as possible and force Russia to exhaust its ammunition and resources.”

Rakhmanin believes that no line of defense should be permitted to fail.

“There are two ways to approach this – an organized retreat or simple flight. And we cannot allow the flight to take place under any circumstances,” he said.

The war for Bakhmut began around seven months ago, but Russian advances from three sides have left troops with only one way out to the west in recent weeks.

“There is a danger that our garrison in Bakhmut will be encircled,” military analyst Oleh Zhdanov said in a post on YouTube assessing the situation as “critical”.

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