Russia continues attempt to cut off besieged Bakhmut city

BLOOMBERG

Ukraine’s armed forces said Russian troops continue to pursue an attempt to cut off the besieged eastern city of Bakhmut. Kremlin forces are on the offensive along five axes in the east, including near Bakhmut, the Ukrainian General Staff said over the weekend. Bakhmut’s deputy mayor said Russian attacks are preventing Ukrainian troops from reaching residents who want to evacuate.
Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander in charge of Ukraine’s ground forces, made a new visit to troops defending Bakhmut and its outskirts on Monday, according to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.
The intensity of fighting in Bakhmut is at the maximum level as reinforcements from Russia’s Wagner group arrived, according to Syrskyi. Ukraine’s resistance in the area caused high losses to Russia and reduced its offensive potential as the best mercenary troops had to be thrown into combat.
Kremlin troops “appear to have secured a sufficient positional advantage to conduct a turning movement against parts of Bakhmut but have not yet forced Ukrainian forces to withdraw and will not likely be able to encircle the city soon,” said analysts at the US-based Institute for the Study of War.
The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, appeared in a video saying that if his forces withdrew from the city, the “entire frontline will collapse.” Prigozhin claimed Bakhmut was “practically surrounded” by Russian forces, including his troops, and that Kyiv would be best advised to give up.
Meanwhile, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu made a rare visit to Russian troops in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, according to a video released by his ministry. Shoigu “paid special attention to the creation of necessary conditions for the safe accommodation of personnel in field conditions,” the ministry said.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner Russian mercenary group, accused the military of blocking access to his representative after he made new complaints about a shortage of ammunition.
Prigozhin said the Russian military headquarters in Ukraine annulled the pass of his envoy and prevented him from entering their premises on Monday, according to a statement posted by his press service.
The mercenary chief over the weekend blamed “ordinary bureaucracy or betrayal” for the ammunition shortage among his forces fighting in Bakhmut. He wrote a letter to the military campaign’s top commander urgently requesting more supplies.