Russia close to encircling Ukraine's Bakhmut after months of fighting
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[March 04, 2023]
By Leonardo Bennasatto and Lisi Niesner
CHASIV YAR, Ukraine (Reuters) -Russian artillery pounded the last routes
out of Bakhmut on Friday, aiming to complete the encirclement of the
besieged Ukrainian city and bring Moscow closer to its first major
victory in half a year after the bloodiest battle of the war.
The head of Russia's Wagner private army said the city, which has been
blasted to ruins in Russia's more than seven month onslaught, was almost
completely surrounded with only one road still open for Ukraine's
troops.
Reuters observed intense Russian shelling of routes leading west out of
Bakhmut, an apparent attempt to block Ukrainian forces' access in and
out of the city. A bridge in the adjacent town of Khromove was damaged
by Russian tank shelling.
Ukrainian soldiers were working to repair damaged roads and more troops
were heading toward the frontline in a sign that Ukraine was not yet
ready to give up the city. To the west, Ukrainians were digging new
trenches for defensive positions.
Russia's RIA state news agency released a video showing what it said
were Wagner fighters walking by a damaged industrial facility. One
fighter is heard saying Ukraine's army is destroying infrastructure in
settlements near Bakhmut to prevent the Russian encirclement.
The commander of Ukraine's ground forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, visited
Bakhmut on Friday for briefings with local commanders on how to boost
the defence capacity of frontline forces.
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Denys Yaroslavskyi, commander of a Ukrainian army unit at Bakhmut, told
Espreso TV that parts of some units had been ordered to rotate to more
secured positions, describing the situation since the morning as "a
slaughterhouse on both sides."
A Russian victory in Bakhmut, with a pre-war population of about 70,000,
would give it the first major prize in a costly winter offensive, after
it called up hundreds of thousands of reservists last year. Russia says
it would be a stepping stone to completing the capture of the Donbas
industrial region, one of Moscow's most important objectives.
Before the war Bakhmut was known for salt and gypsum mines. Ukraine says
the city has little strategic value and the huge casualties Russia has
suffered trying to take Bakhmut could shape the course of the conflict.
'PINCERS ARE CLOSING'
"Units of the private military company Wagner have practically
surrounded Bakhmut," Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a video that
Reuters determined was filmed on a rooftop in a village some 7 km (4
miles) north of the city centre.
"Only one route (out) is left," he said. "The pincers are closing."
He called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to order a retreat
from Bakhmut to save his soldiers' lives. The camera panned to show
three captured Ukrainians - a grey-bearded older man and two boys -
asking to be allowed to go home.
Robert Brovdi, the commander of a Ukrainian drone unit active in Bakhmut
who goes by the name "Madyar", said in a video posted on social media
that his unit had been ordered to withdraw immediately. He said he had
been fighting there for 110 days.
Volodymyr Nazarenko, a deputy commander in the National Guard of
Ukraine, told Ukrainian NV Radio the situation was "critical", with
fighting "round the clock".
"They take no account of their losses in trying to take the city by
assault. The task of our forces in Bakhmut is to inflict as many losses
on the enemy as possible. Every metre of Ukrainian land costs hundreds
of lives to the enemy," he said.
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![](../images/030423PIX/news_s85.jpg)
A Ukrainian service member is seen in a
trench at a position outside the frontline town of Horlivka, amid
Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine March 3,
2023. REUTERS/Anna Kudriavtseva
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"There are many more Russians here than we have ammunition to
destroy them."
MORE U.S. ARMS
The past few days have seen alarm in Russia at its own potential
vulnerabilities after Moscow reported a number of drone attacks on
targets deep within Russia, followed by what it said was an armed
cross-border raid on Thursday.
President Vladimir Putin told his Security Council on Friday to step
up "anti-terrorism measures".
Meanwhile, Zelenskiy visited wounded soldiers at a military hospital
in Lviv. One, shaking the president's hand from bed, apologised that
he could not stand up. "That's OK," Zelenskiy said. "The time will
come and you will rise."
Zelenskiy gave no details of the fighting in Bakhmut during an
evening video address in which he thanked troops for "firmly and
bravely" defending the city.
In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced
another round of military aid for Ukraine, a package of ammunition
and other support valued at $400 million.
The United States has provided nearly $32 billion in aid to Ukraine
since Russia's invasion on Feb. 24, 2022.
At the White House, U.S. President Joe Biden thanked visiting German
Chancellor Olaf Scholz for "profound" support on Ukraine. Scholz
said it was important to send the message that backing Ukraine will
continue "as long as it takes and as long as is necessary."
After their meeting, the White House said the pair reiterated their
commitment to impose costs on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
Germany makes Leopard tanks promised in January and expected to be
the core of a new Ukrainian armoured force.
Scholz has been criticised by some Western allies for taking a
cautious public stance toward arming Ukraine, although he has
overseen a big shift in policy from a country that was Russia's
biggest energy customer before the war.
Kyiv's ambassador in Berlin, Oleksii Makeiev, said Germany was now
taking more of a leadership role in arming Ukraine.
Moscow, which says it has annexed nearly a fifth of Ukraine, accuses
pro-Western Kyiv of posing a security threat. Ukraine and its allies
say the invasion was an unprovoked war of conquest.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, pointing to U.S. military
interventions around the globe, accused the United States of
hypocrisy on Friday after Blinken said Moscow cannot be allowed to
wage war in Ukraine with impunity. The two men met briefly on the
sidelines of a G20 foreign ministers meeting in India.
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(Reporting by Reuters bureaux; Additional reporting by Mike Collett-White,
Dan Peleschuk and Olena Harmash in Kyiv, Andrii Pryimachenko in Lviv;
Writing by Peter Graff, Gareth Jones and Michael Martina; Editing by
Timothy Heritage, Hugh Lawson, Grant McCool, Bill Berkrot and Simon
Cameron-Moore)
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