Russian forces desperate to capture the strategically important town of Bakhmut in the contested Donbass region are attempting to advance over the bodies of their own fallen soldiers, Ukraine’s top general said.
General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, wrote on his Facebook page on Tuesday that there had been intense fighting along the Svatove-Kreminna border in the Luhansk region and towards Lysychansk.
“The most difficult situation remains in the Soledar-Bakhmut-Mayorsk region,” wrote the four-star general. “There the enemy is practically trying to advance over their corpses, but the units of the Defense Forces are slowing down the enemy’s offensive at the expense of utmost effort.”
Zaluzhnyi said he reported on the difficult situation at the front to US General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in their first phone call of the year.
Zaluzhnyi thanked Milley for his help in providing anti-aircraft missile systems to protect civilians. The two generals also discussed “changes in the operational and strategic situation, primarily on land and in the airspace of Ukraine.”
Rescuers try to douse a fire caused by shelling in a village near Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, where Russians are said to be trying to advance over the bodies of their own troops GEORGE IVANCHENKO/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, wrote on Tuesday about the difficult situation in Donetsk. UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SER/AFP via Getty Images
Bakhmut was the scene of some of the bloodiest battles of the war, reducing much of the city to rubble.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last month visited the battered, blood-soaked city, which he dubbed a “fortress” — and hailed the soldiers defending it as heroes.
Moscow has mobilized manpower and resources as part of a push to encircle the devastated city, which if successful would cut Ukraine’s supply lines and open a path for Vladimir Putin’s forces to advance to the main strongholds of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk in the illegally annexed Donetsk Oblast .
Ukrainian forces have been defending Bakhmut for months amid relentless Russian shelling and drone attacks. Getty Images
The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington, DC-based think tank, has questioned the logic behind Russia’s relentless bid to take Bakhmut, which has been bombarded with rockets for the past six months.
Analysts argued that the costs associated with the “attrition-based battle” far outweigh any operational benefits.
Ukraine’s Interior Ministry said on Wednesday that border guards repelled a Russian attack near Bakhmut and then, after a counterattack, seized enemy positions.
A man stands next to items he is selling at a makeshift market ahead of the Orthodox Christmas celebrations as Russia’s assault on Ukraine continues in Bakhmut.Portal
Deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine Hanna Malyar said Russia will continue to form additional assault forces and focus on capturing Bakhmut and other cities north of Donetsk.
Malyar, citing the ministry’s main intelligence directorate, wrote on Telegram that significant Russian casualties meant Moscow would most likely have to announce a second partial mobilization in the first quarter of the year.
In Washington, a senior government official said heavy fighting around Bakhmut is likely to continue for the foreseeable future, with the outcome uncertain as Russians have made incremental advances on the ground.
With mail wires