Ukraine said today Monday that its troops they continue to advance on the flanks of the front on the damaged one bahmut city, in the eastern part of the country, although the “intensity” of their movements has decreased and Russia is bringing more forces to the region. Enormous losses have been inflicted on the enemy, it is noted however.

Russia said on Saturday it had fully captured Bakhmut, but Ukrainian officials have since said that Kiev forces still control a small part of the city.

Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar reiterated today that Ukraine has little foothold inside the city itself.

“Through our flanking movements – north and south – we managed to destroy the enemy,” she said in televised remarks. “Moving along the flanks and occupying certain heights there, our armed forces made it very difficult for the enemy to stay inside the city itself.”

“The defense of Bahamut fulfills its military duties. The enemy’s offensive potential has been significantly reduced, huge losses have been inflicted on the enemy, we have gained time for certain actions, which will be discussed later,” noted Maliar.

“We are still moving forward but the intensity has somewhat decreased. If we talk about the north, there is much less active action there. If we speak of the south, we are advancing, and the defense of Bahamut as a city has fully achieved its military purpose.”

“We’re leaving until June 1st”

The founder of Wagner Yevgeny Prigozhin by today that his Russian mercenary forces will withdraw from Bakhmut — the Ukrainian city it claims it captured on Saturday after a month of fierce fighting — from May 25 to June 1 and cede their positions in the Russian regular army.

“If there are not enough units of the Ministry of Defense (to take Bahamut), there are thousands of generals (to do it), a regiment of generals should be formed, give them all the weapons and everything will be fine,” said today Prigozhin.

According to experts at the Washington-based American Institute for the Study of War, Wagner has been weakened by the fighting in Bahamut and now she is almost incapacitated to launch new attacks outside the city due to the wear and tear on its forces.

At the same time, military analysts estimate that Bakhmut is largely controlled by Russian troops. Ukrainian forces, on the other hand, have retaliated north and south of Bakhmut and control connecting roads around the city.

According to the Ukrainian military, however, it will not be easy to withdraw Wagner’s men because his forces deployed around Bakhmut threaten to encircle the mercenary group’s forces.

The bloody battles in this city, which once had 70,000 inhabitants, have been raging since late summer.

According to experts at the American Institute for the Study of War, Russian soldiers will likely need more reinforcements to hold the damaged city and protect it laterally. This may also prevent the Russian advance – based on Moscow’s planning – west to Kostiantynivka and north to Solentar.