“Bakhmut is one-third controlled by Ukrainian forces, as international observers have found,” said Serhiy Lechenko, Volodymyr Zelensky’s adviser.
Ukrainian forces now control only a third of the city of Bakhmut, where fierce, deadly fighting has been going on for months, an adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, Serhii Lechenko, admitted today.
“Bakhmut is one-third controlled by Ukrainian forces, as international observers found,” Lechenko said during a briefing broadcast by the presidency’s Telegram account.
The adviser denied, however, that the city has been surrounded by Russian forces, as a pro-Russian separatist in eastern Ukraine recently claimed.
On March 20, the head of the Wagner paramilitary mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, claimed that his men control “almost 70 percent” of Bakhmut. This information has not yet been confirmed by the Ukrainian authorities.
Bakhmut, a town of 70,000 before the war, has become a symbol of the conflict between Russians and Ukrainians for control of the Donbass industrial basin. Russian forces have advanced in recent months to the north and east, cutting off many Ukrainian supply lines while also capturing the eastern side of the city. The US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said on Wednesday that the Russians control “about 65%” of Bahamut after advancing over the past five days, mostly from the north. The Ukrainian military, however, says the situation has “stabilized” and hopes it will soon take advantage of Russian fatigue and launch a counterattack.
Source :Skai
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