Russia on Thursday said it had cut off Ukrainian defense forces in Bakhmut, while Kyiv said that supply lines were still open into the eastern Ukrainian town, scene of the most brutal battle of the war.
Agence France-Presse was unable to verify the status on the ground in Bakhmut, which has turned into the longest and bloodiest fight since Russia invaded Ukraine last year.
Russian troops have been battling since summer last year to capture the town, which had a pre-war population of 70,000, and whose fall would mostly present a symbolic victory for Russia.
Photo: REUTERS
The Russian military said its airborne troops were “blocking the transfer of Ukrainian army reserves to the city and the possibility of retreat for enemy units.”
It also said that Wagner mercenary units were advancing in Bakhmut.
However, the Ukrainian military said it had communication with its troops inside Bakhmut and was able to send them munitions.
“This does not correspond to reality,” said Sergiy Cherevaty, a spokesman for Ukraine’s eastern forces, referring to Russia’s claims.
“We are able to ... deliver food products, ammunition, medicines, all that is necessary, and also to recover our wounded,” he said.
However, the Ukrainian military acknowledged a “difficult” situation in Bakhmut.
Even as Russian forces say they are getting closer to the town, some residents of nearby areas have no plans to leave.
“I’ve got nowhere to go. I can’t afford to leave,” 71-year-old Vira Petrova said in the village of Kalynivka, several kilometers west of Bakhmut.
“If my home is destroyed. I’ll live in my basement,” she added, not flinching after each boom.
Petrova gestured to artillery damage to her home, explaining why she was no longer afraid of the war creeping nearer.
“We’ve already been shelled. Half the kitchen roof was destroyed. Our neighbor’s roof was destroyed. We’re used to it,” she said.
Her street, lined with cherry blossom trees and abandoned one-story homes, has only about two dozen residents remaining — a fraction of those who once called it home.
The Kremlin is looking to present a triumph at home as the offensive drags on for a second year.
Adding confusion to the situation on the ground, Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin also cast doubt on Moscow’s claims, saying it was “too early” to talk about Russian forces encircling Bakhmut.
“The Ukrainian Armed Forces continue to deploy reserves and transfer them,” Prigozhin’s press office wrote on social media. “The hardest, bloodiest battles are going on, so it’s too early to talk about the complete encirclement of Bakhmut.”
The EU on Thursday added Wagner to its sanctions list for “actively participating in the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.”
Wagner was in February placed on a separate EU sanctions list for contravening human rights and “destabilizing” countries in Africa.
The EU also slapped sanctions on RIA FAN, a Russian media outlet that is part of the Patriot Media Group, whose board of trustees is headed by Prigozhin.
Tensions between the Kremlin-linked businessman and the Russian military have emerged during the battle for Bakhmut.
Both Russia and Ukraine have conceded big losses in Bakhmut, with neither giving numbers.
The past few days suggested Russian forces are making some gains, after months of Kyiv and Moscow wearing each other down.
Kyiv has said the battle for the town is key to holding back Russian forces along the entire eastern front.
Experts say that the salt mining town’s political importance has surpassed any military significance as the battle drags on.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited Ukrainian positions near Bakhmut late last month, praising Kyiv’s troops.
Several Russian war correspondents have made visits to Bakhmut this week, publishing images of a city of ruins.
The Russian-installed head of the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk, Denis Pushilin, also visited Bakhmut this week.
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