The Ukrainian government and army continue to think that this is not the time to cede Bakhmut and maintain their commitment to resistance. On the other side, the spearhead of the Russian troops, the mercenaries of the Wagner Group, are waiting for Moscow to send them ammunition to launch the final assault. In another sign of his disagreements with the military leadership, his boss, the oligarch Yevgueni Prigozhin, has once again charged against the high command of the Russian Army and has warned that without these supplies the Russian offensive against this city in eastern Ukraine is in danger.
Prigozhin said a week ago in a video to the Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelensky, that Bakhmut could fall in “about two days.” Now, according to this controversial businessman considered close to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, but confronted with Defense, the situation sounds different.
In another of his critical messages against the Russian generals, he warned that the Russian positions around Bakhmut will be in danger if they do not send their fighters the ammunition they promised him.
In recent months, Russian units have blocked exits from the city to the east, north and south, as well as occupying several towns in the west. The Ukrainian army still holds the central and southwestern neighborhoods of the city
Prigozhin last month accused Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Army Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov of wanting to “destroy” his company for withholding ammunition supplies for his men, which he compared to “betrayal.” to the homeland.” Later, he said that he had already been promised the arrival of those supplies.
Now he complains that promises are not kept. In a message posted on his press service’s Telegram channel, he said on Sunday that the Russian front lines near Bakhmut could collapse. “Orders were given for shipment on February 23. But until today most of the ammunition has not been shipped. We are trying to find out the reason: is it just ordinary bureaucracy or a betrayal?” Prigozhin said, launching the same accusation again. “If Wagner now withdraws from Bakhmut, the entire front will collapse. The situation will not be good for all military formations that protect Russian interests, ”he added.
Bakhmut, where 70,000 people lived before the conflict, has limited strategic value, but at a time when there are no major advances it could become a symbol for both sides because of how long they have been fighting over it. On August 4, Rodion Miróshnik, who was then ambassador to Moscow for the pro-Russian Luhansk region, reported the start of the first street battles.
Taking Bakhmut, which in Russia is still called Artiomovsk, the name it had until 2016, would be a serious victory for Moscow in this winter’s slow offensive, especially after last year’s withdrawals and after recruiting more than 300,000 reservists in the fall. In addition, it would leave a clear path to continue advancing towards Slaviansk and Kramatorsk, with the declared objective of gaining full control of the Donetsk province.
But Kyiv is willing to thwart those plans, even if it has been calling the situation “difficult”, “complicated” or “critical” for months. The commander of the Ukrainian troops in this square, Volodimir Nazarenko, said yesterday that there had been no order to withdraw and that “the defense is resisting”, collects Reuters.
In fact, the Ukrainian presidential office reported on its website that Zelensky had discussed the situation with veteran commanders and two senior generals. Valeri Zaluzhnyi, Commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces; and Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of the ground troops, “spoke in favor of continuing the defensive operation and further strengthening” the Ukrainian positions.
So, like the conflict, the longest battle seems far from over.
