Ukrainian forces have faced relentless Russian attacks on Bakhmut, and both sides are reporting an ever-increasing number of casualties in the fighting around the banks of Bakhmutka, which now marks the front line, Reuters writes.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky informed in his address on Sunday, the 12th of March, that Ukrainian forces have killed more than 1,100 Russian soldiers in the last few days. «In less than a week, starting from the 6th of March, we managed to kill more than 1,100 enemy soldiers in the Bakhmut sector alone, Russia’s irreversible loss, right there, near Bakhmut,» said the president. He added that about 1,500 more Russian soldiers were injured badly enough to be unable to participate in hostilities.
The Russian Defense Ministry reports that more than 220 Ukrainians were killed in the Donetsk region in the last 24 hours. Reuters has not been able to confirm the news, and neither party has reported its own losses.
Ukraine controls the western part of Bakhmut, while Russian mercenaries, Wagner’s group, have managed to take over the eastern side of the city.
Yevgeny Prigozhin admitted that the situation in Bakhmut is very difficult. Prigozhin stated that the mercenaries received ammunition from the regular army. He previously accused Moscow of deliberately withholding ammunition. The owner of the Wagner group also announced that the recruitment of new fighters will begin after the capture of Bakhmut.
Although experts don’t think that the Bakhmut is strategically important, Russia sees the capture of the city as a step closer to greater victories to take over all of Donbas.
Ukraine has decided to stay and fight for Bakhmut after some signs suggested a retreat was being planned.
Military experts believe that Ukraine’s counteroffensive could begin in late April and May when weather conditions improve and military equipment, including Challenger and Leopard tanks, arrives.
Meanwhile, the Foreign Minister of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, has called on Germany to speed up the supply of ammunition and to start training Ukrainian pilots to fly Western fighter jets. Kuleba made it clear that he did not expect the fighter jets to be delivered soon, but said that the pilots should be ready when the decision is made.
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