(Dan Tri) – Ukraine may be pushed out of the city of Bakhmut in the East, but Russia also suffered heavy losses on this strategic front.
Ukrainian soldiers fighting in Bakhmut (Photo: Reuters).
Russian forces continued to advance in the city of Bakhmut after destroying an important bridge on this front.
Russia is believed to have used Iskander missiles to blow up the bridge connecting Bakhmut with the neighboring village of Khromove on the night of March 2.
Bakhmut is currently the site of one of the fiercest battles between Russian and Ukrainian forces.
In a video posted on March 3, Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Russian private military organization Wagner, declared that Bakhmut was `in fact surrounded by Russian forces`.
The video was rejected by the National Resistance Center of Ukraine.
`Yevgeny Prigozhin shot a video and claimed Bakhmut was surrounded, but that video was not even filmed on the outskirts of this city,` the center said, accusing the video of being `provocative` and
Bakhmut city in Eastern Ukraine (Photo: Bloomberg).
Dmitry Gorenburg, an expert on Russia at the Center for Naval Analysis, said that Russia’s destruction of the bridge and ground attack were part of the continuous advances of this force in Donetsk.
`That said, the battle accomplished Ukraine’s purpose: to drain most of Wagner’s forces, tie up a large number of capable Russian troops, thus preventing a larger attack in
Whether Bakhmut could ultimately be seen as a strategic defeat for Ukraine remains an open question, Mr. Gorenburg said, saying that would lead to a tactical withdrawal by Ukraine and
Arkady Moshes, director of the EU’s Eastern Neighbors and Russia studies program at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, said that Ukraine’s withdrawal would lead to the possibility of Ukrainian forces
`However, in terms of strategy, there will be very few changes. The Russian side’s casualties are very heavy and taking over this rather small piece of territory takes too long,` said expert Moshes.
Mr. Moshes predicted Russia is still `very far` from establishing complete control over the territories in Ukraine that Moscow annexed last September.