The Russian troops mobilized in Bakhmout “are losing considerable strength and are exhausted,” Oleksandre Syrsky, commander of the Ukrainian land forces, assured this Thursday.
Kiev shows its confidence for the Battle of Bakhmout. Ukraine said on Thursday it expects a benefit “very soon” from Russian fatigue in the city, the epicenter of fighting in the east of the country and where Russian forces have suffered significant casualties with paramilitary group Wagner in the front line.
“The aggressor does not despair of taking Bakhmout at any cost, despite the loss of men and equipment,” commander of Ukraine’s Ground Forces Oleksandre Syrsky told Telegram.
The Russian troops mobilized en masse in and around Bakhmout “are severely losing strength and are exhausted,” he assured.
“Very soon we will seize this opportunity, as we have done in the past near Kiev, Kharkiv, Balaklya and Kupyansk,” he added, citing previous Ukrainian military victories.
The “superhuman bravery” of Ukrainian soldiers
General Syrsky again praised the “superhuman courage and bravery” of the Ukrainian military in the face of the Russian invasion.
The comments come on the day after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s second visit in three months to this area of intense fighting, where he appeared “on the front lines” alongside Ukrainian soldiers. On Thursday, the Ukrainian President this time visited Kherson, a city in the south of the country that was recaptured from Russia last November.
The Russian army with the Wagner paramilitary group is now encircling Bakhmout from the north, east and south, making it difficult to supply the Kiev soldiers.
But they are resisting, at the cost of heavy losses on the Ukrainian side as well, a strategy by the Kiev military command aimed at a war of attrition that will wear the Russians down before a Ukrainian counter-offensive is expected soon.
Bakhmout, Putin’s priority target
If the strategic importance of the city of Bakhmout is disputed even by experts, Moscow would like to announce a military victory after several humiliating setbacks last summer and autumn, which prompted Russian President Vladimir Putin to mobilize several hundred thousand reservists, i.e. civilians. then to appoint a new commander in charge of operations in Ukraine.
The town of Bakhmout, which had a population of 70,000 before the Russian invasion in February 2022, is now completely devastated and almost completely emptied of its civilian population.