The eastern Ukrainian town of Bakhmout came under heavy artillery fire from Russian forces on Monday in what appears to be a prelude to another major Moscow offensive as war approaches, the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainian soldiers who have been resisting for months are preparing for more ground attacks, Ukrainian military officials said.
Positions in Bakhmout were reinforced and only those with a military role were allowed into the town, a deputy battalion commander said. Civilians who still wanted to leave Bakhmout would have to brave the fire, he added. Taking Bakhmut has become a key goal of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The city, which was practically emptied of its approximately 70,000 pre-war residents as a result of months of bombing, is largely destroyed.
Its conquest would give Russia a new foothold in the Donetsk region it is trying to control and offer it a rare major victory after suffering several military setbacks in recent months.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in Brussels that he considered the Russian offensive, which had been feared for weeks, to have already begun. “We see absolutely no signs that President Putin is preparing for peace,” he told a meeting of NATO defense ministers.
“What we see is that President Putin and Russia still want to control Ukraine. We see them sending more troops, more weapons, more capabilities,” he told reporters.
The Russian attack on Bakhmout is led by private military group Wagner, which has made modest but steady gains on the ground. The incessant Russian bombing of the city further complicates the situation for Ukrainian forces. “The city, its suburbs, the entire perimeter and basically the entire leadership of Bakhmut and Kostyantynivka are under insane and chaotic shelling,” said Volodimir Nazarenko, deputy commander of Ukraine’s Svoboda Battalion.
At the moment there is no fighting in the city center, he said, but the Ukrainian army is ready to face any attack. “The city is a fortress, every position and every street, almost every building is a fortress,” he said.
“Massive Attacks”
Russia earlier Monday said its troops had gained a few kilometers along frontlines in Ukraine, but did not specify which area of the frontline, which stretches across several Ukrainian regions in the south and east of the country, had moved.
The Ukrainian army reported intense Russian shelling along the front line and said 16 towns near Bakhmout had been shelled. The Ukrainian army said its forces repelled several attacks near Bakhmut over the past day, as well as attacks in the Kharkiv, Luhansk and Zaporizhia regions.
Lugansk Governor Serhi Gaidai said Russian troops attacked the town of Bilogorivka from all sides before dawn on Monday. “But our troops fought back there,” he told Ukrainian television.
“It was the same situation towards Kreminna – many of them (the Russians) showed up there. But they withdrew after fighting with our forces.”
Preparations for Russia’s major offensive are already underway, he added. “The amount of shelling, airstrikes and small group attacks has already increased.
We are waiting for them to launch massive attacks 24/7,” he said. Portal has not been able to independently verify reports of the clashes on the ground.
Allied support
As Ukraine continues to plead with its allies for more ammunition and weapons, a meeting of defense ministers from NATO member states is scheduled for Tuesday in Brussels to discuss military support for Kiev.
Defense Minister of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov said the main items on the agenda of the talks are air defense, formation of an armored coalition, troop training and logistical support. Kiev says it needs fighter jets and long-range missiles to counter a major Russian offensive and retake lost territory.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday that he expected the issue of aircraft deliveries to Ukraine to be discussed at the meeting. Russia, which began its offensive in Ukraine on February 24, wanted to quickly seize control of the capital, Kiev.
But his attempt failed and the conflict escalated into a war of attrition that killed tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians and destroyed entire cities.
Kiev fears a new offensive by Russian forces with support from Belarus. The country is an ally of Russia and has allowed Moscow to use its territory to attack Ukraine from the north without getting directly involved in the conflict.
The French invited to leave Belarus
France on Monday urged its nationals to leave Belarus immediately over Russia’s armed offensive against Ukraine, the Foreign Ministry said.
The United States did the same for its nationals present in Russia.
“French people in Belarus are asked to leave the country immediately by road through the border crossings with Lithuania, Poland or Latvia,” the Quai d’Orsay specifies on its website.
Belarus, a close ally of Russia, allowed President Vladimir Putin to use its territory to launch the February 24 invasion of Ukraine.