Tucked away in niches in an unremarkable building, a few miles from the front lines, Bahamut’s business center is a high-tech, bustling place. Soldiers watch live screens of destroyed buildings and battlefields riddled with bombs.

Six weeks after joining the Bakhmut Defense Forces, the fighters of the Adam Tactical Group, one of the most effective combat units in Ukraine, were confident, without saying that they turned the game against Russian troops trying to encircle and capture the city.

“The enemy has exhausted all his reserves,” the commander, 40-year-old Colonel Yevgeny Mezhevikin, said on Tuesday as artillery, air defense and intelligence teams worked around him.

Thanks to repeated Russian attacks and a tenacious Ukrainian defense, Bakhmut became the central battlefield of the Russian invasion for more than eight months, despite its limited strategic importance.

Russia lost an extremely large number of troops in the fighting, Ukraine too.. As casualties rise, so does the political symbolism of the city. Kremlin officials called Bakhmut an important prize in the campaign to seize Donbass. For Ukraine, it has become an important line of defense that must be held, both to weaken Russia’s forces and to deprive its enemies of ultimate victory.

Now Russian attacks have slowed down and the threat of encirclement has been averted, according to Colonel Mezevikin, “the frequency of attacks has decreased several times,” he said. “They used to attack from all sides simultaneously and in groups of at least 20, 30 or 40 people, but they are gradually retreating.”

The description of the commander coincided with the description of the supreme military commander-in-chief of Ukraine, General Valery Zaluzny, and the commander of the ground forces in the east, General Alexander Syrsky. Both said the situation in Bakhmut had stabilized in recent days, despite fierce fighting from some Ukrainian units.

Colonel Mezhevikin said he was confident Ukrainian forces could continue to hold the city and push Russian forces further. If the Ukrainians maintain their current momentum, then the month-long battles in Bakhmut could prove to be a turning point in Ukraine’s defense against Russia, not only because it will stop the last Russian offensive, but also because they will prepare for the “strike”. out of strike, he said.

In addition, the new Ukrainian assault brigades are completing their training, he notes. “We’ll keep the enemy here a little longer until he strikes from behind.”

To the north and south of the city, where the Russian troops tried to encircle Bakhmut by creating a choke hold, the Russians attacked the most active Ukrainian units and therefore now lost their momentum. “When they try to reinforce their units or change position, they are destroyed,” he added.

However, the center of Bakhmut remains a point where the Russian troops were still advancing with significant forces. “The only thing left for them is to try to advance into the city, because the buildings protect them from fire.”

Testimonies from Ukrainian soldiers fighting inside the city showed how Russian troops concentrated their efforts on pushing through the center of Bakhmut, using heavy artillery and aerial bombardment to break up blocks of resistance. Some Ukrainian units suffered heavy losses and had to be withdrawn or reinforced by other units.

“They are tearing the city apart. It seems that today a new wave of attacks has gone against them from all sides – from the north, from the south. In a word, while all our positions are holding, the situation here has become extremely difficult, ”the Ukrainian military wrote in the Telegram application.

Sergei Filimonov, a unit commander in the northern part of the city, also spoke of heavy fighting and questioned the value of defending Bakhmut with some of the best special operations forces.

Returning from the front line to a restaurant in a nearby town, the commander recalled fighting alongside renowned Ukrainian fighter Dmytro Kochubaylo, commander of the Da Vinci Wolves private battalion, who was killed by Russian fire this month.

Filimonov, whose company belongs to this battalion, and Kochiubaylo were volunteers who gained notoriety for introducing serious combat units specializing in strikes into the Ukrainian army.

In early March, Kotsyubailo, better known as Da Vinci, and his friend Filimonov were called upon to repel a Russian advance on the north side of Bakhmut, which threatened the only paved road to the city. They successfully hit the Russian troops. According to him, when Filimonov’s unit was pinned down by Russian fire, Da Vinci’s team swooped in and rescued them.

The Russians responded with massive artillery fire, and three days later da Vinci was mortally wounded by shrapnel in the neck and chest. His body was taken to the Ukrainian capital, where he was buried with full military honors, but Filimonov participated in repelling Russian attacks that day and could not attend.

According to him, the Russian fire was so strong that he was bruised and deaf in one ear, but his unit held out.

“This is a great loss for our battalion, for Ukraine, for the armed forces,” he said of Da Vinci’s death. “It is difficult to overcome losses. And there are brigades with terrible losses. Some of them left, he said, but the da Vinci wolves remained where they were.

Meanwhile, the Russians stopped.. “We have a strong line. But we need a strong counterattack,” Filimonov said. As some other commanders have pointed out, there are weaknesses and gaps in the Russian defense. “Just as they can surround us, they can also be surrounded by us if we break through their defenses at any point.”

The Russians are aware of the danger, he said, and Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the private military company Wagner, which is fighting in Bahamut, publicly warned of the danger, calling for increased military support.

“If Wagner retreats, then it is clear that the front will collapse. The front will collapse at the Russian border – and maybe even further.

Colonel Mezhevikin said that the Russian divisions were still guarding critical defensive points, but also that the regular units of the Russian army lacked morale and were easier to break. “It’s easier to deal with them. They are leaving,” he said.

But Wagner units, which included convicts, were threatened with severe punishment if they retreated, making them tougher opponents, he said. “They are afraid to give up their positions,” he explained. “They would rather die here.”