Bakhmut (Reuters)
Russia and Ukraine
Dubai – Al Arabiya.net
Published in: May 13, 2023: 05:04 PM GST
Last updated: May 13, 2023: 05:48 PM GST
On Saturday, the Ukrainian army confirmed that it had achieved “progress” in the vicinity of the city of Bakhmut, the center of fighting for months in eastern Ukraine, while Russia, for its part, spoke of achieving gains inside the destroyed city, which is mostly under its control.
The defensive operation continues.
“Our soldiers are advancing in some areas of the front, and the enemy is recording losses in numbers and equipment,” said the commander of the land forces in the Ukrainian army, Oleksandr Sersky, on social media. “The defensive operation towards Bakhmut continues,” he added.
On Friday, Ukraine announced that its forces had regained parts of the lands surrounding the city, while Moscow confirmed that it had repulsed an attack along a wide area of the front line.
Conflicting reports
Meanwhile, conflicting reports from the battlefront indicate an increase in the intensity of the fighting after months of relative stability.
For its part, Moscow confirmed on Saturday that it is advancing into Bakhmut and has taken control of “a neighborhood in the northwestern part” of the city.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement that “offensive units liberated a neighborhood in the northwestern part of the city of Artyomovsk,” the Russian name for Bakhmut.
Russia controls most of Bakhmut
Russian forces control about 95% of the city, which is suffering from widespread destruction.
--Your browser doesn’t support HTML5 video
The Battle of Bakhmut is the longest and bloodiest since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Search for victory
Observers underestimate Russia’s imposition of full control over the city from a strategic perspective, but this will allow Moscow to brag about a military victory after a series of retreats in the past months.
On the other hand, Kiev confirms its intention to exhaust the Russian army as much as possible by focusing on this region before embarking on a counterattack with the aim of trying to restore occupied areas in the east and south.
German aid package
These field developments come at a time when Germany announced, on Saturday, that it is preparing a new package of weapons for Ukraine worth 2.7 billion euros, the largest allocated by Berlin since the start of the Russian invasion last year.
Kiev said that this large package is a new indication that Russia will lose the war against Ukraine.
Russia is doomed to defeat.
The advisor to the Ukrainian presidency, Mykhailo Podolyak, welcomed the new German assistance, saying that it “directly shows that (…) Russia is doomed to defeat.”
Kiev is calling for more support, especially as it prepares for a counterattack.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that he discussed with his US counterpart Anthony Blinken the issue of arms supplies to his country.
“I stressed the importance of providing Ukraine with F-16s and starting the necessary steps to train Ukrainian pilots,” he said.
