The Chief of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Army, Valery Zaluzhny, said on Facebook that his troops had managed to stabilize the situation around Bakhmut.
For eight months, the city has been the epicenter of the fiercest fighting against Russian forces in eastern Ukraine.
According to the brief of the British intelligence services “Russia’s advance towards Bakhmut, in the Donbass region, has largely stopped”.
“This is probably due to the extreme exhaustion of the Russian forces,” the intelligence also says and adds that the forces of Kiev have also given many victims.
Ground Forces Commander-in-Chief Alexander Sirsky said Thursday in Telegram that a counteroffensive against the Russians near Bakhmut could be launched soon.
Russian troops continue to attack in the northern and southern sectors of the front line in Donbass.
The Ukrainian army reported on fierce fighting along the line Liman – Kupyansk, as well as to the south in Avdeevka on the outskirts of Russian army-held Donetsk.
Both areas were among the main targets of Russia’s winter offensive, which aimed to establish full control over Ukraine’s industrial hub Donbas. So far, the offensive has not achieved much despite the deaths of thousands of soldiers on both sides in the fiercest fighting since the beginning of the war, Reuters reported.
At a Ukrainian artillery position in a wooded area in the northern part of the front, servicemen fire a French 155-mm TRF-1 howitzer on the highway that supplies the city of Kremenna, controlled by Russian troops.
“Fortunately, we’re holding our ground,” one of the Ukrainian soldiers told Reuters. “Fortunately, because we are facing a very strong and well-armed opponent. Against us is a professional army – airborne units.”
When an order with coordinates arrives, the gunner climbs into position, removes the camouflage from the howitzer, takes aim, loads and fires. After three shots, they removed the barrel of the cannon, re-camouflaged it and returned to the bunkers to await further orders. Automatic weapons and artillery fire could be heard in the distance.
The front line has barely moved since November despite fierce fighting. Now that spring has arrived, the main question in Ukraine is how much longer Russia will be able to sustain its advance, and if and when Kiev will seize the initiative on the battlefield with a counteroffensive.
The Kremlin has revised plans for the offensive
The Kremlin has dropped plans for a further offensive in Ukraine this spring after failing to gain much ground and will focus on blunting a new push by Kiev’s forces, which is expected to begin soon, Bloomberg reported.
Moscow is looking to recruit up to 400,000 contract troops this year to fill its ranks, according to sources familiar with the planning who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The ambitious recruitment drive will allow the Kremlin to avoid another forced mobilization of reservists as it ramps up President Vladimir Putin’s re-election campaign later this year, the same sources said. The mobilization last fall shook public confidence and caused the emigration of a million Russians from the country, Bloomberg, quoted by BNR, recalls.
Doubts in Russia
While many in the government and the Kremlin elite doubt whether Russia can ever prevail, hardliners in the security services are determined to fight what they see as an existential battle and have Putin’s support, the agency’s sources said.
Defying efforts by Washington and its allies to isolate him, Putin won strong public support this month from Chinese President Xi Jinping, who pledged to boost bilateral ties during a visit to Moscow.
Kremlin officials were upbeat about the visit despite the lack of announced deals, saying Xi’s high-level endorsement was an important sign of support.
China has not publicly committed to providing lethal weaponry, although Russian forces are having serious difficulty advancing in the face of fierce Ukrainian resistance. Almost all of the 300,000 troops mobilized in the fall are now on the battlefield, according to Ukrainian and Western officials, but Russia has failed to capture major cities in recent months.
