According to Ukrainian sources, more civilians are dying in Cherson and Zaporizhia after attacks by Moscow's troops. Fighting is still raging in Bakhmut. The Ukrainians succeed in preventing the city from being encircled. In addition, they probably inflict heavy losses on the enemy.
In the months-long battle for the city of Bakhmut, the Ukrainian army says it is continuing to withstand the attacks of the Russian invaders. The Ukrainian General Staff said the day before "more than 130 enemy attacks" had been repelled, particularly in Bakhmut, Kupyansk, Lyman and Avdiivka. Army spokesman Sergey Cherevaty said the situation in the eastern Ukrainian industrial city of Bakhmut was "difficult but under control".
The Russian military continued its efforts to capture Bakhmut this Sunday. "They (the Russian troops) do not stop attacking Bakhmut and the surrounding settlements," said the Ukrainian general staff in Kiev in its situation report in the evening. Numerous settlements around Bachmut had been shelled with mortars and artillery. The generals in Kiev gave no information on any gains or losses in territory. So far, Bachmut has been under pressure from three sides, only one side in the west is still open.
The southern Ukrainian region of Kherson was also under Russian fire. According to Kiev sources, a residential building was hit and at least three people were killed. The dead in the village of Poniativka were a woman and two children, the head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Andriy Yermak, wrote on Telegram. "Russian terrorists continue to kill civilians," Yermak added.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian civil defense announced that the death toll after a heavy rocket attack in the city of Zaporizhia last Thursday night had risen to 13. An eight-month-old girl had previously been recovered dead from the rubble of the five-story building.
According to Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov, the Ukrainian army managed to inflict heavy casualties on Russian fighters in Bakhmut. "The Russians lose up to 500 dead and wounded every day," Resnikov told "Bild am Sonntag".
Bachmut has been contested since last summer. The fighting continued over the weekend. "The enemy is continuing its attempts to encircle Bakhmut," the Ukrainian general staff said, referring to the repelled attacks there and in other eastern Ukrainian cities.
Reznikov emphasized that taking Bakhmut by Russia would have little strategic impact. "If they take Bakhmut, it won't mean anything for the Donbass," he told the "Bild am Sonntag". Rather, the city is a "symbolic place" for Moscow.
In view of the use of the private mercenary group Wagner in the fight for Bakhmut, Resnikov spoke of a "kind of competition between different Kremlin towers". The defense minister added that Russia was pursuing "meat grinder tactics" in Bakhmut, with "soldiers being just cannon fodder."
According to the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW), the Ukrainian army is unlikely to be surrounded in Bakhmut. The high command "signaled that it would probably withdraw rather than risk being surrounded," the ISW said.
The head of the Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said on Friday that his units had "virtually surrounded" Bakhmut. There is only "one road" left to conquer. Prigozhin shows up regularly with his mercenaries at the front. The generals of the Russian army, on the other hand, are accused of avoiding the combat zones.
On Saturday, however, the Russian Defense Ministry released a video of the head of department Sergei Shoigu on the front line in eastern Ukraine. The ministry said he inspected a "command post" in the south of the Donetsk region, without naming the exact place or date of the visit. In the video, Shoigu could be seen in a helicopter, talking to a soldier in front of damaged buildings and awarding fighters. The minister wears neither a helmet nor a bulletproof vest.
Shoigu also met the military responsible for the Ukraine offensive, including Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov. According to the ISW, Shoigu probably wanted to find out how large the Russian losses were around the town of Wuhledar, 150 kilometers southwest of Bakhmut, and whether another offensive in this direction was possible.
Ukraine has accused Russia of committing serious war crimes since its invasion began a year ago. The cabinet in Kiev on Saturday approved an agreement reached with the International Criminal Court (ICC) that will allow for the early opening of an office of the ICC prosecutor's office in Ukraine. This is intended to facilitate investigations into war crimes.
