The Ukrainian army is under increasing pressure in the face of an onslaught of Russian forces on the front line in eastern Ukraine, particularly in the area around the city of Bakhmut, as the anniversary of the Russian invasion approaches and Moscow’s forces are pressed to gain as much territory as possible. ahead of a speech by Russian President Vladimir Putin before the parliament on February 21, the DPA, EFE and Agerpres agencies reported on Sunday.

The head of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, claims that after heavy fighting they captured the village of Krasna Gora (Red Mountain), located about 7 kilometers from Bakhmut, and that this unit will continue to occupy the town, the area is the scene of very costly battles in the lives of soldiers and techniques for both camps.

According to the Ministry of Defense of Great Britain, which refers to data from the Ukrainian General Staff, not confirmed by any independent source, last week the Russian army “suffered probably the highest level of casualties since the first week of the invasion of Ukraine.” “. According to relevant data from Kyiv, over the past week, Russian troops would have lost an average of 824 soldiers per day. But “Ukraine itself continues to experience a high level of losses,” the Ministry of Defense in London admits.

Taking Bakhmut would bring Russian troops closer to occupying the entire Ukrainian Donetsk region. However, at the current rate of advancement of the Russian army, according to Prigozhin himself, this can happen only in two years.

In its daily report on Sunday, Russia’s Defense Ministry said it had destroyed Ukrainian arsenals along the entire Ukrainian front line, starting in northeastern Kharkiv Oblast, continuing through eastern Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts, and ending in the southern part of Kherson Oblast. According to several Ukrainian and Western sources, these could be the first steps of a general offensive ordered by Putin.

“This is not the attack they expected”

Speaking about this, Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, assessed on Saturday evening that the Russian army has launched a “big offensive”, but already has “big problems”.

“The offensive that (the Russians) planned is progressing gradually. But this is not the offensive they were counting on,” as Ukrainian troops are putting up “strong resistance,” the Ukrainian official explained. The best examples, he adds, could be the districts of Avdiivka, not far from the regional capital of Donetsk, and Vugledar, where Russian forces lost thousands of soldiers and more than a hundred tanks, armored vehicles and other military equipment, but despite this, the storming of the two cities.

Meanwhile, Russian military bloggers, supporters of the war against Ukraine, question the ability of the Russian army to conquer all the territories annexed by Moscow on paper in the east and south of Ukraine (Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson regions). . And the pro-Russian officials of Donbas (Donetsk and Luhansk) are asking Moscow to change its military strategy, especially since the Ukrainian army will receive over a hundred tanks from the US and European allies, in particular, the German Leopard, in the first stage by spring. tanks

According to the assessment of Ukrainian military intelligence published on Sunday, “the Russian command does not have the resources for large-scale offensive actions” and will have to be satisfied with tactical victories like the last ones.

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