Ukraine fights on in Bakhmut, seeing chance to break Russia’s attack force

KYIV - Ukrainian troops will keep defending the eastern city of Bakhmut and reinforcements will be sent in, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, apparently prolonging the war’s bloodiest battle in a bid to break Moscow’s assault force.

Russia has sent thousands of troops in human wave attacks over recent weeks

to try to capture Bakhmut

and secure its first battlefield victory in more than half a year.

Ukrainians have been digging trenches farther west and in recent days seemed to be preparing to withdraw in order to preserve their forces and fight elsewhere.

But Mr Zelensky’s remarks in an overnight address suggests Kyiv has elected not only to stay and fight on

but also to reinforce the city,

apparently convinced that Russia’s losses in trying to storm it are still far greater than those of the defenders.

“The command unanimously supported” the decision not to withdraw, Mr Zelensky said. “There were no other positions. I told the commander in chief to find the appropriate forces to help our guys in Bakhmut.”

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine a year ago and claims to have annexed nearly a fifth of its territory.

It says taking Bakhmut would be a stepping stone towards recapturing the surrounding Donbas region, a major war aim.

“The liberation of Artemovsk continues,” Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said in televised remarks, using the Soviet-era name for Bakhmut, re-adopted by the invading Russians. 

“The city is an important hub for defending Ukrainian troops in the Donbas. Taking it under control will allow further offensive actions to be conducted deep into Ukraine’s defensive lines.”

Western strategists say the ruined city has little value.

But its capture would give Russian President Vladimir Putin a symbolic victory after a winter offensive involving hundreds of thousands of conscripted reservists and mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner private army.

The Ukrainian military command on Tuesday reported a record 1,600 Russians killed over the previous 24 hours.

Such figures of enemy dead cannot be confirmed and the sides do not release regular figures of their own casualties.

But past Ukrainian reports of similar spikes in Russian losses have corresponded with major failed Russian assaults.

Urban warfare also typically favours defenders.

Some Ukrainian officials have spoken in recent days of a ratio of as many as seven Russians killed at Bakhmut for every Ukrainian lost.

“The opportunity to damage the Wagner Group’s elite elements, along with other elite units if they are committed, in a defensive urban warfare setting where the attrition gradient strongly favours Ukraine is an attractive one,” wrote the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War, explaining Ukraine’s apparent decision not to withdraw for now.

It said that while the attack on Bakhmut had previously been led by Wagner units formed mainly of convicts recruited from prisons, Russia is now committing higher value troops there, giving Ukraine more reason to fight on to defeat them.

Still, not every Western expert agrees with the wisdom of Ukraine fighting on in Bakhmut. 

“From artillery ammo shortages, increasingly contested lines of communication, and an attritional battle in unfavourable terrain – this fight doesn’t play to Ukraine’s advantages as a force,” wrote Mr Michael Kofman, a US-based expert on Russia’s military who visited Bakhmut last week.

Reuters journalists have not been inside Bakhmut for a week and could not independently verify the situation there. Moscow has not given detailed accounts of the latest fighting.

The Bakhmut battle has exposed a rift between the regular Russian military and Wagner.

The mercenary group’s boss, Mr Yevgeny Prigozhin, has released videos in recent days

accusing the Russian Defence Ministry of withholding ammunition from his men.

The ministry denies withholding ammunition from Wagner but has not responded to Mr Prigozhin’s latest accusations.

The Kremlin has remained silent over the feud.

Mr Mark Hertling, a retired former commander of US ground forces in Europe, said the quarrel among Russian commanders helps Kyiv.

“The opponent – in this case, Ukraine – rejoices, as a lack of unity of command creates enemy dysfunction and countless offensive opportunities,” he tweeted.

Prisoner video causes outcry

Meanwhile, a video apparently showing

Russian soldiers gunning down an unarmed Ukrainian prisoner of war

caused an outcry across Ukraine. The man says “Glory to Ukraine” before multiple shots are heard.

“I want us all in unity to respond to his words: ‘Glory to the hero. Glory to the heroes. Glory to Ukraine.’ And we will find the murderers,” Mr Zelensky said in his televised address.

Russia denies carrying out war crimes in Ukraine, claiming its invasion is a response to a security threat from its neighbour’s ties to the West.

Tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians have been killed, as well as soldiers on both sides. Russia has razed Ukrainian cities to the ground and set millions of civilians to flight in what Kyiv and the West call an unprovoked war of conquest.

While Russia has made clear gains in recent weeks around Bakhmut, its winter offensive has otherwise been a failure.

It has yielded no significant gains in major assaults farther north and south along the front line.

Kyiv, which recaptured swathes of territory in the second half of 2022, has spent the last three months focusing on defence.

It is trying to exhaust the attacking Russians before an expected Ukrainian counter-offensive later in 2023.

In Velyka Novosilka, a village along the Donbas front, remaining residents sheltered in darkness in a cellar while artillery could be heard rumbling outside. Pet fish darted in an aquarium. A pot was boiling on a stove.

“Since the war started, almost every building was razed to the ground. Many houses were destroyed, many houses were burnt. Many people left, but many still remained here because it is their land, their motherland. There are people who cannot leave,” said resident Iryna Babkina, 46.

“I want peace and shelling to be over. I want to live under the peaceful sky. When I go outside, it is very scary there. I think things will get better very soon – we very much hope for that. It will be Ukraine.”

REUTERS