Illustrative photo – Ukrainian soldiers fire a self-propelled howitzer towards Russian positions near Bakhmut, March 7, 2023.
Kyiv/Moscow – Both Ukraine and Russia claim that hundreds of enemy soldiers were killed in Bakhmut and the surrounding area in 24 hours. According to Kyiv, 221 pro-Russian forces were killed and more than 300 others were injured, while up to 210 Ukrainians died on the wider front line in the Donetsk region, according to Moscow. The Reuters agency reports today on the statements of both parties, which cannot be independently verified.
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Photo gallery: Russian invasion of Ukraine
Russia, which started the war more than a year ago, did not specify the number of dead Ukrainians directly in Bakhmut, which became the scene of one of the bloodiest and longest battles of the war in Ukraine. But both sides admit that they are losing a lot of troops in the area. CNN news recently reported that according to some estimates, the loss ratio in the fighting for Bakhmut is as high as 7:1 against Russia
Mercenaries of Russia's Wagner Group have taken control of most of the eastern part of this Ukrainian city in recent days, the British Ministry of Defense said in an analysis of the fighting in Ukraine on Saturday. According to him, the front line is now located in the center of the city – by the Bakhmutka river.
The Ukrainian General Staff reports repelling 92 Russian attacks in the last day
The Russian invasion army continues to focus its main efforts on conducting offensive actions in the directions of Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdijivka, Marjinka and Shakhtarsk, he said today in his morning operational report Ukrainian General Staff. At the same time, he claims that Ukrainian defenders repelled 92 enemy attacks in these places. The US Institute for the Study of War (ISW) says in its latest battlefield situation report that Russian forces made no confirmed advances in Bakhmut on Saturday.< /p>
“Ukrainian and Russian sources continue to report heavy fighting in the city, but Wagner Group fighters are likely increasingly entrenched in urban areas such as the AZOM industrial complex, making it difficult for them to make a significant advance,” ISW reports.
< p>The institute also mentioned the AZOM metal processing plant in its previous report – footage released on March 10, it said, indicated that Russian forces had advanced to new positions in northwestern Bakhmut within 800 meters of the AZOM plant. At the same time, Russian military bloggers claimed that mercenaries from Wagner's group had already entered the complex, ISW noted.
In its latest report, the institute also quotes the spokesman of the eastern group of Ukrainian forces, Serhiy Cherevaty, who, according to him, said on Saturday that the fighting in Bakhmut was more intense this week than in previous days. According to Reuters, Cherevatyj said on Saturday that over 500 soldiers had been killed or wounded in a day in the battle for the eastern Ukrainian city. It was not clear from his statement whether it was Friday's losses or the last 24 hours, Reuters noted.
The agency also drew attention to the Russian Ministry of Defense's statement on Saturday, according to which over 200 Ukrainian soldiers were killed in one day along the front line in the Donetsk region. Both Kiev and Moscow have long claimed that they killed a significant number of enemy soldiers in the Battle of Bakhmut. Neither side of the conflict regularly informs about their own losses, on the contrary, they report losses in the ranks of the enemy practically every day. Similar statements by individual parties to the conflict cannot be directly verified from independent sources.
The British Ministry of Defense said on Saturday in its analysis of the development of the fighting in Ukraine that mercenaries of the Russian Wagner Group had taken control of most of the eastern part of Bakhmut in recent days. According to him, the front line is now located in the center of the city – by the Bachmutka river. According to him, the place has become a “killing zone” because the Ukrainian defenders can direct fire from the fortified buildings in the west of the city, which they still control.
The head of the Russian mercenaries, Yevgeny Prigozhin, reported the control of the eastern part of Bakhmut, which the Russians have been trying to capture for many months and has become one of the main focus of the current fighting, a few days ago.
“In the direction of Bakhmut, the enemy has not stopped attacking the city of Bakhmut ,” reports the command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces today, which further writes that Russian troops shelled a number of villages near that part of the front line.
“In the direction of Kupyan and Lyman, the enemy maintained a significant military presence in the areas bordering Ukraine, to prevent the transfer of our troops to other areas,” the Ukrainian General Staff further stated today, noting that the invading forces had unsuccessfully tried to break through the Ukrainian defenses in some places in this location. Unsuccessful Russian attacks are also reported from the vicinity of Avdijivka and Marjinka.
The Ukrainian General Staff also reports on Saturday's Russian shelling of Kherson, during which, according to it, two civilians were killed and three people were injured. Ukrainian authorities reported on Saturday about Russian shelling, which they said killed three people and wounded two.
