Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of using tactics on the Eastern Front to capture the town of Bakhmut.
The town, situated in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, is the focus of Russian attacks and had a population of 7,000 before the Russian invasion. The capture of the town will be a sign of a symbolic victory for Russia.
The Ukrainian forces are waiting to advance to the key city of Kherson, and President Zelensky said that the attacks will continue in force.
In a nightly address from Kyiv, President Zelensky said that the craziness of the Russian command is clearly evident and that they are ” driving people to their deaths” for months and ” concentrating the highest levels of artillery strikes.”
President Zelensky’s advisor, Oleksi Arestovych, said that in a day, Russia launches attacks before noon and the Ukrainian forces are able to push back every time.
The town is situated on the main road leading to Solviansk and Karamatorsk, both of which are held by Ukraine.
According to analysts, the city itself has little or no military value, but if the city were to be captured, it could turn the tide for the gradually retreating Russian forces as the Russian artillery would be in the range of Ukrainian cities.
The Russian regulars in the region are supported by a group of Wagner paramilitary mercenaries, whose founder, Yevgeniy Prigozhin, wants to capture the town as a “political prize”. He further commented that the Russian forces are advancing at a pace of 200–100 per day and that his forces are meeting with “the most fierce enemy resistance.” He praised the Ukrainian forces by hailing them as “well prepared, motivated, and working confidently and harmoniously” in a statement that his company published and also reminded that this does not prevent Russian forces from advancing and that he cannot say how long it will take.
President Zelensky said that the Ukrainian forces are holding ground despite facing intense attacks and said that the soldiers on the frontlines are “heroes”.
The Ukrainian forces have steadily been advancing to the Kherson region in the south of the country, where Russian troops are currently evacuating civilians and under martial law imposed by Russia.
President Zelensky did not mention anything about the advance directly. He said that the Ukrainian forces are holding their ground in the frontlines and “reducing the capabilities of the occupiers by destroying their logistics”.
Officials in Kyiv have warned that Russia has sent new recruits into Kherson to increase their defences and that they see no sign of an imminent withdrawal of Russian troops, saying that the heaviest battle of the war might take place in Kherson.
The Ukrainian Defence Minister, Oleksii Rezinkov, said that the invasion was halted due to the wet conditions, which make resistance more difficult compared to the counter-offensive that pushed back Russian forces in the east in September.
In other Russian-held Ukrainian territories such as Luhansk, the Russian administrators have commented that the Ukrainian influences in the city are gaining day by day as cities such as Kerminna and Savatove, which fell under Russian command during the initial days of the invasion, are currently seeing fighting between the two forces.
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