Russia has revealed its latest estimate of how long it will take to take control of the strategic city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, which has been under heavy fighting for weeks. In addition, British sources have announced a major development on the ground that threatens Ukrainian supply lines on this front.
Yevgeny Prigozin, commander of Russia’s Wagner military group, pointed out in a video posted on Telegram on the 6th that it may take three to four weeks to control Bakhmut.
He also added that Russia was still seeking to cut supply lines to Ukrainians defending Bakhmut, which would allow them to enter the city from multiple directions and proceed to “destroy key military targets”.
Prigozin inspected a cemetery on the 6th, acknowledging that the group’s armed personnel suffered increasing losses in the Ukraine war, and said that the cemetery “is still expanding.”
In the video, the Wagner Group leader appears at dozens of graves, each of which is decorated with crosses and wreaths.
Graveyards keep expanding
Prigozin said in the video, “We continue to bury our Wagner warriors here, and this has not been a problem. We will work on improving this cemetery and making it a memorial for future generations.” He added Said, “Yes, this cemetery is still expanding. Those who participated in the fighting are sometimes killed. Life is like this.”
According to Western assessments, the total casualties on the Russian side (including regular Russian troops, Wagnerian forces and pro-Russian separatists) since the start of the war may have exceeded 150,000.
In a dramatic development on the ground in Bakhmut, Russia has taken control of the west bank of the Pakhmutokva River, jeopardizing a key supply route on the Ukrainian side, the UK Ministry of Defense said today.
In a circular tweeted by the UK Ministry of Defense, it noted that “Russia has made further progress and may now be in central Bakhmut. The main Ukrainian supply route 0506 to the west of the city may be seriously affected threaten.”
The city of Bakhmut is located on the banks of the Pakhmutokva River in the north of Donetsk in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. It was built in 1571 and is the oldest historical and cultural center in the region.
In the summer of 2022, Bakhmut became the center of military operations launched by the Russian army in the Donetsk region. Over the past few months, Bakhmut has been attacked many times, especially by armed personnel from the Wagner Group. But the Ukrainian army foiled the attacks.
In July 2022, when Ukrainian troops withdrew from the Luhansk region adjacent to Donetsk, Russia stepped up its offensive against Bakhmut. Over the past few weeks, there have been many conflicting reports about the control of the city by the warring parties.
Safety concept
Against this background, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on the 6th that Russia will continue to strengthen the security system with Belarus. Putin stressed at a meeting of the “Supreme State Council of the Union States of Russia and Belarus” in Moscow, the Russian capital, that Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko also attended, stressing that they have begun to develop a security concept for the union countries.
Putin made it clear that Belarus is Russia’s largest trading partner. He also pointed out that the bilateral trade volume between the two countries will increase by 35% in 2021 and reach 30 billion US dollars.
Putin pointed out that the bilateral trade volume between the two countries will increase by 12% in 2022, reaching 45 billion US dollars. He also believes that Russia and Belarus are strengthening cooperation in the fields of defense, security and military technology, and the two sides will continue to do so. Because it is in the fundamental interests of the two countries and the two peoples.
On the other hand, Lukashenko said that the West is blocking Belarus and Russia economically. He added that as these attempts faced failure, the West began to exert pressure from the military field, and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) troops and military vehicles were therefore assembled on the border between the two countries.
