Ukraine: Bakhmout resists, Zelensky evokes a "difficult" situation

The Ukrainian city of Bakhmout, the scene of fierce fighting for months, is not about to fall despite recent Russian advances, the head of the paramilitary organization Wagner, Evgueni Prigojine, said on Tuesday, referring to a butcher's shop

Ukraine: Bakhmout resists, Zelensky evokes a "difficult" situation

The Ukrainian city of Bakhmout, the scene of fierce fighting for months, is not about to fall despite recent Russian advances, the head of the paramilitary organization Wagner, Evgueni Prigojine, said on Tuesday, referring to a butcher's shop. "We won't be partying anytime soon," the latter said, according to his press service on Telegram. "Bakhmut will not be taken tomorrow, because there is strong resistance, shelling, the meat grinder is in action," he added in reference to the heavy casualties on the battlefield.

“The adversary is activating and sending new reserves all the time. Every day, between 300 and 500 fighters arrive in Bakhmout from everywhere, the artillery fire is increasing every day,” said Yevgueni Prigozhin.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, for his part, reported on Tuesday an "extremely difficult" situation in the East in the face of Russian troops, who have been gaining ground in recent weeks, particularly near Bakhmout. “The situation on the front line, especially in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, remains extremely difficult. It's literally a battle for every meter of Ukrainian land,” Ukraine's president said during his evening video address.

The head of the Russian occupation in the Ukrainian region of Donetsk, where Bakhmut is located, Denis Pushilin, told him that Ukraine gave no sign of wanting to hand over the city, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described as a "fortress ". "We fully understand that there is currently no prospect of the adversary abandoning their positions without a fight," he said according to Russian media.

A city of some 70,000 people before the Russian offensive a year ago, Bakhmout was largely destroyed by more than six months of fighting that caused heavy casualties on both sides. "About 5,000 residents" are still in Bakhmut despite the danger, Ukrainian army Eastern Command spokesman Sergiy Cherevaty said on Tuesday.

Several Ukrainian officials further indicated that in the face of the deterioration of the situation, access to Bakhmout had been restricted for civilians, including members of humanitarian organizations and journalists. Only "those who really need to enter Bakhmut enter it," Cherevaty said. "We are taking additional measures to evacuate all those who remain in the city," added the head of the Ukrainian military administration in Donetsk, Pavlo Kyrylenko. According to him, "the whole front line is constantly bombarded, both the line of contact and the towns behind". He said the situation was "difficult, but under control".

While the strategic importance of Bakhmout is disputed, the city has acquired a status as a symbol of the struggle between Moscow and kyiv for control of the industrial region of Donetsk. The Ukrainian presidency on Monday admitted a "complicated" situation in the village of Paraskoviïvka, about ten kilometers from the center of Bakhmout, which "is facing intense shelling and assaults" from Russia. Denis Pushilin said on Friday that troops from Moscow now had three of Ukraine's four supply routes to Bakhmut under their control.