The adviser to the acting head of the DPR Denis Pushilin, Yan Gagin, said that Bakhmut (Artemovsk (Bakhmut) ) was practically blocked by the Russian armed forces, all access roads, according to him, are controlled by Russian artillery. He talked about it on Rossiya-1.
However, heavy fighting is still going on in the city, the capture of the city can drag on for weeks. At the same time, on March 22, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reportedly came to the front lines of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, video published in the politician’s telegram channel. RTVI found out what military correspondents say about the situation in the Artyomovsk region.
Yuri Kotenok, war correspondent
In Artemovsk (Bakhmut) , what happened a few days ago is happening: PMC “Wagner” is advancing in urban areas and actively operating from the western direction of Artemovsk (Bakhmut) .
As for controlling roads, there are a lot of statements, controlling access roads means periodically shooting. It is quite impossible to control all the entrances to Artemovsk (Bakhmut) , the enemy also uses dirt roads, rotates personnel, but it is very difficult to do. Delivering ammo to the city is extremely difficult right now.
Nevertheless, this does not affect the situation in the city itself, where there are very fierce battles for literally every house. Very slow progress, but it cannot be otherwise.
In this situation, I believe that the assault detachments of the Wagner SVK do the almost impossible, they take these quarters with heroic effort, clear them of the enemy, taking into account that there are a lot of underground communications in many houses, and the enemy tries to use them, to wait out the artillery strike, to counterattack.
In the southwest direction of the city, in the area of Chasov Yar, Aleksandrovka, closer to Konstantinovka, the enemy reserves are concentrated, there are tank fists there. The enemy’s goal is to launch a counterattack and try to free their pincer grouping in Artemovsk (Bakhmut) , but how much will it be possible, given the active work of anti-tank weapons, crews Wagner PMC and artillery, that’s a big question. We must at least try to do everything so that these attempts are reduced to nothing. This is what the situation looks like.
There are no time limits (it is impossible to name the capture of the city), all this can drag on for weeks. But in any case, most of the city, according to my information, is already under the control of Russian forces,” Konok told RTVI.
Two days ago, Yevgeny Prigozhin said that 70% of the city was under the control of Wagner’s units, while no new data was received in this regard. But that’s taking into account that our movement is inexorable, which means that this percentage will increase in the coming days.
Igor Strelkov, former Defense Minister of the DPR
I assess the situation near Bakhmut exactly the same as I assessed it a month ago, and two months ago, and even three, when our troops just approached it – like a defensive battle in which our troops engaged in heavily fortified enemy positions and which is strategically does nothing for us in the first place. Because breaking through the front where the enemy is waiting for him, where he has the most important forces, is a very dubious strategic decision from the start.
I believe that the Ukrainian army, their command, deliberately decided to carry out a defensive operation in order to delay, buy time and exhaust the Russian shock forces. In this case, it does not matter whether it is a regular army or Wagner PMC, the main thing is their combat military capabilities.
They (Ukrainians) solved their problem. The fact that they still hold part of Artemovsk (Bakhmut) is probably due to the fact that they saw an opportunity to achieve not only strategic success – they have already achieved it, since the whole Russian winter offensive has actually bogged down, gave nothing in terms of strategy or even operational, – but also to gain a tactical victory, that is to say to keep the part of the city that can be kept.
Apparently, Wagner and the Russian armed forces in the area no longer have enough strength to quickly clear the remnants of the city, while the enemy, on the contrary, has enough to fight hard for every house for every meter.
I think that the Ukrainian Armed Forces will delay the surrender of Bakhmut, despite the losses they suffer there, we also have losses, I think, quite significant, I’m sure, until the time when they pass to the offensive on another sector of the front.
That is, ideally they will try to fight in the Bakhmut region until mid-April, if they can, so that the forces and means that are now stuck with us there to try to complete Bakhmut were not withdrawn to the reserve, not replenished, could not be used for larger sectors of the front,” Strelkov said in an interview with RTVI.
The most important areas are the Zaporizhia and Kherson regions, south of the Donetsk region, where the enemy can use their new military equipment, which they received from the West and which, apparently, from here mid-April or late April should be ready for combat in prepared formations.
According to some reports, within a few nights the enemy overtook from the Krivoy Rog region near Bakhmut up to several hundred units of tanks, armored fighting vehicles and vehicles. Will he hit from the Chasov Yar region the fighters of the Orchestra (or at the junction of the Orchestra with other units of the RF Armed Forces) or will he change his mind, we will find out in a very near future.
