“The Battles for Bakhmut: Ukrainian Troops Hold Defense Against Russian Mercenaries and Forces”

The battles for Bakhmut in the Donetsk region continue – Ukrainian troops are in the southwestern part of the city and are holding the defense, Colonel Sergej Cherevaty, the representative of the eastern group of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said in a video interview with “Delfi.lt” on Monday, already after Russia’s announcements about the complete capture of the city. He denied claims by Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Russian mercenary unit “Wagner”, that his forces captured Bakhmut. At the same time, Ukrainian soldiers are gradually advancing in the suburbs of Bakhmut.

Once again, Prigozhin announced on Saturday that they had captured Bakhmut. However, Ukraine says this is not true. What is Bahmut’s situation right now, at this point?

Our subdivisions are in the southwest part of the city – some buildings and our fortifications. Our soldiers from different troops and units maintain the defense there. This is confirmed by several videos published by the forces of our special corporations, our border guards, and others, so this (what Prigozhin said – ed.) is not true. The enemy is concentrating on rocket artillery as much as possible. In the past 24 hours, fire was opened on our positions 374 times, 13 airstrikes on the city and its surroundings by airplanes and attack helicopters. 120 occupiers were destroyed in the battles near Bakhmut, 144 were wounded, two self-propelled artillery devices “Gvozdika” and “Giatsint”, an unmanned aerial vehicle “Orlan-10”, two ammunition warehouses were destroyed. The control point of the drones and the anti-tank missile complex were also destroyed.

What is the probability that those “Wagner” henchmen and maybe the Russian army forces located in and near Bakhmut could be encircled by the Ukrainian armed forces