Russian troops seek to eliminate Ukrainian supply lines near the city of Bakhmutin eastern Ukraine, to try to stop the advances of the kyiv army, soldiers near the front line said.
Ukraine reported further territorial gains this Thursday (May 18) in heavy fighting on the flanks of the eastern city, its latest successes in what appears to be a Change of trend in the area after a months-long Russian offensive.
Far from the city known by both sides as the “meat mincer” Due to the ferocity of the fighting, soldiers with an anti-aircraft unit monitored the battlefield on tablets as the sound of shelling echoed near their positions.
“Now, for the most part, as we start to advance, (the Russians) are shelling all the routes to the front positions, so our armored vehicles can’t carry more infantry, ammunition and other things,” Petro explains. Podaru. the unit commander.
Last week, kyiv said it had increased pressure on Moscow’s forces to the north and south of Bakhmut, but that Russia continued to send more troops, including paratroopers..
“The enemy conducts (air) reconnaissance every day. They fly very often,” said a Ukrainian soldier wearing a badge that reads “Barber.”
“This time, at this moment, they are bringing more Lancets (Russian military drones). We try to work, we try to detect them, and of course we are trying to destroy them.”
The anti-aircraft unit said its location could not be disclosed for security reasons.
the longest battle
Moscow sees Bakhmut, a city of some 70,000 before Russia’s full-scale invasion nearly 15 months ago, as a possible stepping stone to capturing the rest of the eastern Donbas region.
The Russian mercenary group Wagnerwhich is leading the Russian assault on Bakhmut, says it has advanced into the city, and kyiv has recognized those small achievements.
But kyiv has been celebrating battlefield successes for days in the city that eventually they could trap Wagner’s forces inside the city.
“Wagner climbed Bakhmut like rats into a mousetrap”, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, said this week.
Wagner’s chief Yevgeny Prigozhin on Thursday accused regular Russian army units of withdrawing 570 meters north of Bakhmut, exposing the flanks of their own fighters.
“Unfortunately, Russian Defense Ministry units have withdrawn up to 570 meters north of Bakhmut, exposing our flanks,” Prigozhin said in a voicemail. “Please don’t abandon the flanks.”
With information from Reuters
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Source-www.infobae.com