The situation in Bakhmut is critical, but Ukrainian forces are desperately holding on to the eastern city and have dug new trenches in an attempt to deter Russian attackers, while the United States says new military aid to Ukraine will be discussed at a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday, Reuters reported.

Russian troops attacked the city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region for several months, sometimes in waves, and this place became one of the bloodiest battles of this war.

“The fighting in Bakhmut continues… The situation is critical,” Volodymyr Nazarenko, deputy commander of the National Guard of Ukraine, told Ukrainian Radio NV.

“They don’t think about losses when they try to storm the city. The task of our forces near Bakhmut is to inflict as many losses as possible on the enemy. Every meter of Ukrainian land costs the enemy hundreds of lives,” he said.

Over the past day, Ukrainian troops have repelled more than 170 attacks on five main areas of the front line, Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov reported on YouTube on Thursday evening.

The Russians are trying to surround Bakhmut from three directions

Zhdanov reported that the Russians are trying to surround Bakhmut from the north, east and south, and said that the area in the west “is probably the only sector of Bakhmut where the initiative belongs to our troops, not the Russian occupiers.”

Russia, which has lost ground in the second half of 2022, says that the capture of Bakhmut will be a step towards the capture of the surrounding industrial region of Donbass. Ukraine claims that the city has limited strategic importance, but wants to wear out Russian troops.

Ukrainian troops repelled attacks on Bakhmut and two cities in the west – Khromovo and Ivanovske, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a statement on Thursday night.

He said the Russian bombing hit the city of Bakhmut and several other settlements, including Chasiv Yar, the largest city in the west, and two towns south of Bakhmut.

New trenches near Bakhmut

In nearby towns and villages, new trenches have been dug on the sides of the road at a distance of 20-40 meters, which indicates that Ukrainian troops are strengthening their defenses.

“We need as much ammunition as possible. There are far more Russians here than we have the ammunition to destroy them,” Nazarenko said. “The number of enemy soldiers does not matter. Technology is important,” he said.

In the regions of Zaporizhzhia in the center and Kherson Oblast on the southern front, Russian troops bombed more than 40 towns and villages, the Ukrainian army said in a statement.

Reuters says it cannot independently verify reports from the battlefield.

A new package of military aid from the United States

Washington will announce a new $400 million military aid package for the Kiev government and is expected to be a major topic of discussion between US President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz when they meet at the White House, officials say.

The aid will consist mainly of munitions, including GMLRS for HIMARS systems, ammunition for Bradley fighting vehicles, two US officials and a person familiar with the matter said.

The US has provided Ukraine with weapons worth nearly $32 billion to defend against Russia, which invaded its pro-Western neighbor on February 24 last year. (news.ro)

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