Ukrainian forces fighting on the front line on the eastern front are holding their ground despite heavy pressure from continuous attacks by Russian troops, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video message late Tuesday.

“It is very important that, despite the great pressure on our forces, the front line has not undergone any changes,” he said.

The President of Ukraine said that Russian troops suffered “enormous losses” in the attacks they are carrying out in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, where fighting has been going on for several months.

The potential capture of Bakhmut would open the way for Moscow troops to Kramatorsk, a major industrial center in the Donetsk region.

Putin’s persistence

At the same time, Bruno Kahl, head of the German intelligence service BND, said in an interview published on Wednesday by media group Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND) that he sees absolutely no sign that Mr. Putin wants a peace deal.

Right now, the Russian president is looking to settle the issue of war “on the battlefield” and “get as many benefits as possible so that at some point in the future he can dictate a peace deal on his own terms,” ​​he adds. .

Mr Kahl adds that the Russian army can still send far more soldiers to the front than it currently can.

He notes that of the 300,000 draftees called up for service in 2022, some are still being trained, while others have been sent to the front. However, Russia can use the “potential” of conscripts, reaching “up to 1 million people, if the Kremlin deems it necessary,” warns the head of the BND.

However, despite Russia’s numerical superiority, Mr Kahl says, Ukraine manages to defend itself very effectively.

But “this is a difficult fight in the long run, and it will be successful for the Ukrainian side only if the support of the West really continues,” he adds.

In each case, Mr Kahl notes, Russian troops were able to put an end to sudden Ukrainian counterattacks and advances. The head of the BND describes the situation on the front line, speaking of trench and artillery battles, about “a very difficult, barbaric war of attrition.”

Source: RES-IPE