Kyiv. In eastern Ukraine, southwest of Bakhmut, Ukrainian and Russian troops again fought heavy battles, according to both warring parties. “The attacks were carried out at a width of three kilometers and a depth of 2.6 kilometers,” the founder of the controversial Ukrainian Azov regiment, Andriy Biletsky, said on Wednesday night in Telegram. The territory is completely free of Russian soldiers.
At least two companies of the Russian army were allegedly wiped out and taken prisoner. The head of the Russian Wagner mercenary force, Yevgeny Prigozhin, had already complained that the regular army was retreating on the flank of his units. “They abandoned everything, fled and exposed the front in a width of almost two kilometers and five hundred meters deep”, complained the 61-year-old coach. Three square kilometers of territory were ceded. Prigozhin warned against further Ukrainian advances on the flanks of his units in Bakhmut.
even more “difficult” situation
According to the Ukrainian army, the Ukrainian defenders managed to defeat and partially eliminate an entire brigade of invaders. The Russian army’s 72nd Motor Rifle Brigade has abandoned its positions on the southwestern outskirts of Bakhmut, the Ukrainian military said on Wednesday. This military unit usually consists of several thousand soldiers. However, Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesman for Ukrainian troops in the east, said the situation in Bakhmut remained “difficult”. Because of the heavy losses suffered by Wagner’s private group, Moscow is increasingly being forced to use regular army forces. So far, Wagner has led most of the Russian attack on Bakhmut.
The city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, controlled by Ukrainian troops, has been the focus of hostilities for months. Tens of thousands of soldiers died in the fighting.