​The day after the commander of the “Wagner” PMK Yevgeny Prigozhin announced that he had surrounded Bakhmut and called on Ukraine to withdraw its troops, the spokesman of the Ukrainian armed forces on Saturday denied information about the preparation of a mass withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the mining town of Donetsk. the region, where fierce fighting has been going on for months, reports The Guardian. ISW analysts said in an assessment on Saturday morning that the actions of troops in Kyiv indicate a possible mass withdrawal.

Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) suggested in their assessment on Saturday morning that Ukrainian forces are likely preparing a controlled withdrawal from parts of Bakhmut, which has become a veritable inferno after the escalation of hostilities.

“The fighting in Bakhmut is more on the sidelines, the city is controlled by the Ukrainian defense forces: the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Border Service and the National Guard,” said Serhiy Cherevaty, the spokesman of the Eastern Group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. of Ukraine for CNN.

Answering the question whether the Ukrainian military is considering the possibility of mass withdrawal of units, he added: “There is also no mass withdrawal of Ukrainian troops.”

Cherevaty also gave details of the Russian attacks and their losses.

“Only in the vicinity of Bakhmut, 21 enemy shellings using various artillery systems and MLRS, as well as 9 combat encounters, were recorded. In total, 131 shellings and 38 combat clashes took place on this front,” the spokesman said.

More than 150 Russian soldiers were killed, 239 were wounded, three were captured, he added. The figures could not be independently verified by the press.

Instead, Ukraine lost 490 soldiers in a day in the Donetsk direction as a result of the attack by units of the Russian military group “South”, said the spokesman of the Ministry of Defense of Russia, Lieutenant General Igor. Konashenkova, the TASS agency notes. The figures also could not be independently verified.

Unsuccessful offensive of the Russians

Cherevaty also emphasized on Ukrainian television that the situation in Bakhmut is difficult, but under control, and that despite the fact that the Russians blew up the bridge connecting Bakhmut with the village of Khromov, Ukrainian troops will resume defense and continue to repel the offensive. , he writes to Ukrinform.

He also commented that Vladimir Putin is trying to seize the entire territory of Luhansk and Donetsk regions by April. Cherevaty noted that there are already eight different dates by which the Russian leadership wanted to gain control over Donbas.

And the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that on Saturday Russian troops continued unsuccessful offensive actions in the area of ​​Bakhmut, Avdiyivka, Maryinka and Vugledar, in particular unsuccessfully trying to capture Bakhmut, “Ukrainian Pravda” notes.

Ukrainian troops are withdrawn “as needed”

According to ISW geolocation images, Ukrainian forces destroyed two critical bridges in the Bakhmut area – one over the Bakhmutivka River in the northeast of Bakhmut and one along the Khromovye-Bakhmut highway, west of Bakhmut.

The pre-emptive destruction of the bridges likely indicates that Ukrainian forces may be trying to impede the Russian advance into eastern Bakhmut and limit Russia’s potential exit routes from Bakhmut to the west, ISW believes.

Earlier this week, the adviser to the President of Ukraine, Oleksandr Rodnyanskyi, said that Ukrainian troops can withdraw from their positions in Bakhmut if necessary.

Rodnyanskyi also noted that Ukraine has fortified the territory west of Bakhmut, so that even if Ukrainian troops begin to withdraw, Russian troops will not necessarily be able to quickly capture the entire city.

Kyiv’s routes are “increasingly limited”

Ukrainian supply routes from the besieged city of Bakhmut are becoming “increasingly limited” as Ukrainian defenses come under increasing pressure, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said in a Saturday morning assessment of the situation on the frontline.

Kyiv is “reinforcing the area with elite units” and destroying key bridges, but Russian troops are advancing, British military intelligence says.

“The Ukrainian defense of the city of Bakhmut in Donbas is under increased pressure, intense fighting is taking place in and around the city,” the British Ministry of Defense said.

According to him, the troops of the Russian army and Wagner’s group continued their offensive in the northern outskirts of the city, which is now an important point vulnerable to Russian attacks from three sides.

“Ukraine is consolidating territory with elite units, and two key bridges in Bakhmut have been destroyed in the last 36 hours, including a vital bridge connecting the city to the last major supply route from Bakhmut to the city of Chasiv Yar.

However, the supply routes that Ukrainians have outside the city limits are increasingly limited,” the quoted source added.

Wagner’s boss claims Bakhmut is “virtually surrounded”

Russian troops and mercenaries unleashed a barrage of shells on the final approaches to the besieged Ukrainian city of Bakhmut on Friday, bringing Moscow closer to its first major victory in six months after the bloodiest fighting of the war, AFP and Reuters reported.

Wagner head Yevhen Prigozhin said on Friday that the city was “virtually surrounded” and called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi to withdraw troops from the city, which the Russians have been fighting for months.

Bakhmut, destroyed by war

The deputy mayor of Bakhmut, Oleksandr Marchenko, told the BBC about the situation in the city, noting that there is fighting in the streets and there is not a single building that has remained “untouched” by the war.

• “There are battles in the city, there are also street battles, but thanks to the Ukrainian armed forces, the Russians have not yet taken control of the city.
• Their only goal is the murder of people and the genocide of the Ukrainian people….
• They want to destroy Bakhmut, they want to destroy the city,” a Ukrainian official told the BBC, according to The Guardian.

Deputy Mayor Bakhmut also said that “4,000 or 4,500” peaceful Ukrainian citizens still remain in the city, but he does not know the exact number.

Those who remained in Bakhmut live in shelters without water, gas or electricity.

• “The city is almost destroyed, and there is not a single building that has not been touched by this war.
• Neighborhoods, buildings and high-rise buildings are completely destroyed,” said Deputy Mayor Bakhmut.

On Saturday, a team of AP journalists near Bakhmut saw a pontoon bridge set up by Ukrainian soldiers to help the town’s few remaining residents reach the nearby village of Khromov. Later, they saw at least five houses burning as a result of shelling in Khromovo.

A source told AP that it was too dangerous for civilians to leave the city in Donetsk region by car, and they had to flee on foot.

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