Putin’s army is now throwing all its forces against the city of Bakhmut. ORF star Christian Wehrschütz fears the worst fighting since the start of the war.
ORF correspondent Christian Wehrschütz has been reporting – with interruptions – since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and on the situation at the front. Following Alexander Van der Bellen’s presidential visit to Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, the war reporter offered an assessment of how the meeting was received in the war-torn country.
Wehrschütz emphasized that Austria should be very self-critical in assessing its importance. “While Austria is an important aid donor and funder, Austria is not a major partner,” the reporter said. These are the USA, Poland, Great Britain and Germany – all countries that can supply heavy weapons.
“Basically, there is gratitude for this humanitarian aid, but Zelenskyy also made it clear in his speech that he would rather have weapons from Austria. We are a small country.” Van der Bellen and his delegation, which also included the two ministers Leonore Gewessler and Martin Kocher, only had promises and declarations of solidarity with the Ukrainians, as well as power generators and five million euros.
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“Heaviest fighting since the start of the war”
Meanwhile, thousands of kilometers to the east, the worst fighting is taking place in the city of Bakhmut. Russia’s regular army would be there about to completely surround the city and also relieve Wagner’s mercenaries – on the one hand, to give these tired Putin henchmen the opportunity to rest, and on the other hand, probably to seize the city. as a victory for the Russian army.
But Bachmut is not yet in Russian hands. The Ukrainian army’s leadership now expects “the heaviest fighting since the start of the war” there. Wehrschütz also fears that this prediction will come true.
“I think so too. Russia will massively advance there with the additional forces made available because the Donbass region is the minimum military target that Putin has to present to be able to represent success”, was the horrible assessment of the war observer.
Shocking postscript: “This will be huge and it’s also a race against time for Ukraine.”
At the moment, Ukraine can only hope for further arms deliveries from the West in order to possibly break the siege ring and maintain new lines of defense.
Browsing account rcp time 02/01/2023, 22:49 | Act: 02/01/2023, 22:55