- By Kathryn Armstrong
- BBC News
2 hours ago
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The eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut was devastated after months of fighting
The battle for Bakhmut, the Ukrainian city that Russia has been trying to seize for months, is “stabilizing,” says Ukraine’s supreme commander.
Earlier this month, Western officials estimated that between 20,000 and 30,000 Russian soldiers had been killed or injured in Bakhmut since last summer.
Despite this, Valerii Saluzhnyi said the “enormous efforts” made by Ukrainian troops were holding Russia back.
Moscow is eager for a win after not making any big gains lately.
Despite this, military analysts believe that Bakhmut has little strategic value as the city’s importance is now symbolic.
Speaking on Facebook, Lt. Gen. Zaluzhnyi said that although the situation on the Ukrainian front is “the most difficult in the direction of Bakhmut… However, due to the huge efforts of the defense forces, we manage to stabilize the situation.”
Lieutenant-General Zaluzhnyi posted after discussing the situation in Ukraine with British Defense Staff Chief Admiral Sir Tony Radakin.
His comments are the latest positive signal from Ukrainian officials about the long struggle over Bakhmut.
On Thursday, Oleksandr Syrsky, commander of the country’s ground forces, said Russian troops were “exhausted” near Bakhmut.
Mr Syrsky added that while Russia “has not given up hope of taking Bakhmut at all costs, despite the loss of manpower and equipment… they are losing significant strength”.
“Very soon we will seize this opportunity, as we did in Kiev, Kharkiv, Balakliya and Kupyansk,” he said, referring to successful Ukrainian counter-offensives over the past year.
Footage released by his office showed him in an old warehouse presenting medals to soldiers he called “heroes.”
On Wednesday, Britain said a Ukrainian counterattack west of Bakhmut is likely to ease pressure on a supply route into the city, and that Russia’s attack on the city could lose the “limited momentum” it had.
However, the statement added that “Ukrainian defenses remain vulnerable to the encirclement from the north and south.”
The War Institute, meanwhile, said Thursday that while Ukrainian forces are still below the Wagner group in numbers, Ukrainian forces “continue to exhaust mercenaries, which will allow Ukrainian forces to conduct unspecified future offensive operations.”
Wagner, a private mercenary organization, is at the center of the Russian attack on Bakhmut. Their leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, risked his reputation to take over the city.
About 70,000 people lived in Bakhmut before the invasion, but only a few thousand remained.
Its capture would bring Russia closer to control of the entire Donetsk region, one of four regions in eastern and southern Ukraine illegally annexed by Russia last September.