A Ukrainian military official confirmed on Wednesday that his country’s forces had launched counterattacks in Bakhmut, which forced Russian forces to retreat in some places, and pro-Moscow bloggers and the leader of the “Wagner ” shared similar information.
The battle of Bakhmut, the destroyed city of which Russian forces control around 95%, is the longest and bloodiest since the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine in February 2022.
“Individual announcements on Telegram about a breach at several points on the front line are completely unrelated to reality,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
She said her forces repelled several Ukrainian attacks on Thursday, and that the fighting took place at night near Malinivka in the Donetsk region, and that air force and artillery were involved.
“We are launching effective counterattacks. In some areas of the front, the enemy could not resist the attack of the Ukrainian defenders and retreated to a distance of up to two kilometers,” the commander of the forces said. ground forces of the Ukrainian army, Oleksandr Sersky, said via “Telegram” on Wednesday.
For her part, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Ghana Malyar also confirmed via “Telegram” that the Kiev forces “did not lose a single site in Bakhmut during the day”.
And on Tuesday, the head of “Wagner” Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is engaged in an open conflict with the Russian Joint Chiefs of Staff, accused the army soldiers of fleeing their positions in Bakhmut.
Prigozhin had repeatedly complained about the shortage of ammunition, blaming the Russian military structure for deliberately causing the shortage and threatening to withdraw from Bakhmut if the problem was not resolved.
Prigozhin again confirmed on Wednesday that his fighters were not receiving enough ammunition, warning that if this continues Ukrainian forces will be able to “destroy Wagner” in Bakhmut.
He also warned that “parties were starting to crack and crumble”, accusing the Russian general staff of seeking to “artificially limit the combat capabilities” of its forces.
The Russian Defense Ministry did not comment on reports of the withdrawal from sites near Bakhmut, stressing that its forces “continue to liberate the western parts” of the city, adding that “the general situation in the area of ​​the special army operation is under control.”
Russian forces, especially “Wagner” fighters, have gradually and slowly taken over Bakhmut territory in recent months, but Ukrainian resistance is still fierce in the west of the city.
And after Ukrainian authorities confirmed weeks ago that preparations for a counterattack had been completed, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Thursday that his country needed more time to prepare for the attack.
“We are mentally ready,” Zelenskyy said in an interview with Britain’s BBC, but “in terms of equipment, it hasn’t all happened yet.”
“With what we have we can go ahead and be successful. But we are going to lose a lot of people. I think that’s unacceptable. So we have to wait. We still need extra time.”
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