by Dan Peleschuk
KYIV (Reuters) – Russia on Tuesday intensified its campaign to encircle the eastern Ukrainian town of Bakhmout, which has been the scene of weeks of fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces and whose capture is a major objective for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The commander of the Ukrainian ground forces described the situation as “extremely tense”.
Russian forces, including Wagner Group mercenaries, attempt to cut Ukrainian supply lines to the city and force them to surrender or withdraw.
Taking Bakhmut would give Russia its first major victory in more than six months and pave the way for Moscow to control the remaining urban centers of Donetsk, one of four Ukrainian provinces that Putin annexed last September without having full control.
“Despite heavy losses, the enemy has launched Wagner’s most prepared assault units, which are trying to break through the defenses of our troops and encircle the city,” Ukrainian General e General Oleksandr Syrsky said on a military messaging platform.
Russian news agency RIA has released a video showing what it says are Russian Sukhoi Su-25 fighter jets flying over Bakhmout.
“We’re glad they’re ours,” a man identified as a Wagner fighter says in the clip, adding that the devices helped them “psychologically.”
Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky said in his nightly address that Russian forces are “constantly destroying everything that can be used to protect our fortification and defense positions.”
The Ukrainian army said Russia was also bombing positions around Bakhmut, which had been virtually emptied of its estimated 70,000 pre-war residents by months of bombardment, and was largely destroyed.
“During the past day, our soldiers repelled more than 60 enemy attacks,” the Ukrainian military said Tuesday morning, referring to Bakhmout and nearby eastern areas.
Ukrainian forces also repelled Russian attacks on the villages of Yadhidne and Berkhivka on the northern outskirts of Bakhmout.
A Reuters reporter who visited the area on Monday said he had seen no sign of Ukrainian forces withdrawing and reinforcements were arriving despite Russian shelling.
MUDDY TRENCHES
In the Donetsk region, Ukrainian soldiers have to contend with muddy trenches after warmer weather caused the ground to thaw.
“Both sides are sticking to their positions, because as you see, spring means mud. It is therefore impossible to advance,” said Mykola, 59, commander of a rocket launcher battery on the Ukrainian front line.
The “rasputitsa”, or the period of spring snowmelt, has complicated the plans of armies several times in history across Ukraine and western Russia, turning roads into rivers and fields into a quagmire.
Reuters was able to see several military vehicles stuck in the mud.
Russia, whose forces have been replenished with hundreds of thousands of conscripts, has stepped up its attacks along the eastern front, but its assaults have come at a high cost, Ukraine says.
According to Moscow, Russian forces destroyed a Ukrainian ammunition depot near Bakhmout and shot down American-made rockets and Ukrainian drones.
Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield report.
NO COMPROMISE ON “CERTAIN REALITIES”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov for his part reiterated on Tuesday that Moscow was open to peace negotiations, but that Kyiv and its allies must accept Russia’s annexation of four Ukrainian regions – Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia – which Kyiv and the West deem illegal.
“There are certain realities that have already become an internal factor. I mean the new territories. The constitution of the Russian Federation exists, and cannot be ignored. Russia will never be able to compromise on this, these are important realities,” he said.
Kyiv has so far ruled out any dialogue with Moscow and demanded that Russian troops withdraw to the 1991 borders, the date of the country’s independence.
Russia’s Defense Ministry also said it carried out air defense drills on Tuesday after St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo airport was forced to suspend all flights for an hour.
No reason was given for the suspension, while unconfirmed press reports said an unidentified object, such as a drone, had been spotted in the area.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is the latest senior Western official to visit the Ukrainian capital, a visit that comes a week after US President Joe Biden visited to mark the first anniversary of the war.
“America will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes,” Janet Yellen, visiting Kyiv, said on Monday. She announced the transfer of the first $1.25 billion of the last $9.9 billion in US aid, and also supported the completion of a fully funded program for Ukraine with the International Monetary Fund ( IMF) by the end of March.
Volodimir Zelensky, whose forces are expected to attempt a counter-offensive in the coming months, has again urged his Western allies to provide him with F-16 fighter jets.
(Reporting bureaus de Reuters; edited by Robert Birsel and Gareth Jones; French version Diana Mandiá, editing by Kate Entringer)
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