“The village of Berkhovka, 7 km north of Artyomovsk (Ukrainian name – Bakhmut) in the DPR, has been completely taken under the control of Russian forces,” said Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of PMC “Wagner”, quoted by TASS.
The village of Berkhovka is located northwest of Bakhmut, not far from Paraskovievka, whose capture Prigozhin announced on February 17. Bamut is located in the Urayna-controlled part of Donetsk region, north of the large city of Gorlovka, and is an important transport hub for the supply of the Ukrainian group of troops in Donbass. Fierce battles are fought for the city.
In its summary of Wednesday morning, February 22, the Ukrainian General Staff admitted that the Russians had already reached Bakhmut not only from the east, south and north, but also from the north-west: among the settlements where, according to the summary, the Ukrainian units “repelled the attacks” is a village near the northwestern outskirts of Bakhmut.
The founder of the Russian private company “Wagner” Yevgeny Prigozhin predicted a week ago that the city Bakhmut in the Donetsk region can be surrounded in March or April. However, he specified that this was “difficult to predict” and noted that Russia’s success in encircling the city was partly depends on how much western weapons are delivered to Ukraine.
Bakhmut is not a very big city, but it is important for Ukraine to protect it. But not at any cost. This was stated by Volodymyr Zelensky in an interview with the Italian newspaper “Corriere della Sera” on February 20.
“We will defend as long as it makes sense, and the Russians want to continue to Kramatorsk and Slavyansk, all the way to the borders of Donbass and to the Dnieper if they can.
We resist, huh meanwhile we are preparing the next counterattack“, explained the head of state.
American expert: Battles for Bakhmut make no practical sense
According to him, Kiev has little chance of keeping the city
