Russia’s continued attacks on Bakhmut are a key part of its attempts to capture the eastern Ukrainian industrial region of Donbas, the Reuters news agency reported on Thursday morning.
The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said in its latest report on Facebook that “heavy battles for the city of Bakhmut continue.”
It added that Russian forces had failed to advance on two villages to the northwest, while at least a dozen localities came under Russian fire.
Meanwhile, Serhiy Cherevatiy, spokesman for Ukraine’s Eastern Group of forces, told national television on Wednesday that in the past 24 hours, Russian troops had attacked 324 times using artillery and multiple rocket launchers, Britain’s The Guardian newspaper reported.
“The Russians are destroying buildings in Bakhmut to prevent our soldiers from using them as fortifications,” the spokesman said.
Cherevatiy on Tuesday said there had been a record number of attacks on a section of the front farther north, near Ukraine’s northeastern city of Kupyansk, according to The Guardian.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of Russia's Wagner mercenary group that has led much of the advance into Bakhmut, said in a video message on Wednesday: "Today, well-trained enemy units are already being thrown into Bakhmut ... A counteroffensive by the Ukrainians is inevitable."
The Wagner chief added, as cited by Reuters, that his forces "will advance at any cost, just to grind down the Ukrainian army and disrupt their offensive."
Earlier this month, Prigozhin said that the Wagner group controlled 80 percent of the city, a claim that was dismissed by Ukrainian officials.
Meanwhile, the United States’ top general in Europe said on Wednesday that Ukraine's military would get the weapons it needed for its counteroffensive “in time.”
Gen. Christopher Cavoli, the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, announced that more than 98 percent of the combat vehicles pledged to Ukraine had already been delivered, Reuters news agency reported.
At least 1 person killed in Russian missile strike on Ukraine’s Mykolaiv
Russia fired missiles at Ukraine’s southern city of Mykolaiv overnight, killing at least one person and injuring 23, including a child, according to officials.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a social media post: “The country-invader never ceases to prove that the main goal of this war is terror and the destruction of Ukrainians and everything Ukrainian.”
He added: “At night, Russia shelled Mykolaiv with four Kalibr missiles launched from the Black Sea. High-precision weapons were aimed at private houses, a historic building and a high-rise building.”
Zelensky further wrote: “At the moment, it is known about 1 killed and 23 wounded, including a child. Eternal memory to the deceased and speedy recovery to the wounded.”
US, Brussels welcome Xi-Zelensky call
Meanwhile, the United States and the European Union's executive Commission have welcomed Wednesday’s phone call between Zelensky and Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to news outlets.
However, the White House said it was too soon to tell whether the talks would lead to a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, The Guardian reported.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby described the call as a “good thing,” but as to whether it would lead to a meaningful drive towards peace, he said: “I don’t think we know that yet.”
Thursday is day 428 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, Reuters, General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, The Guardian
