The announcement of the capture of Bakhmut by Russia has no strategic significance, as it will not allow Moscow's exhausted forces to create a bridgehead for further offensive operations, writes the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) in its daily report
on the progress of the conflict, as reported by Ukrainska Pravada.
The US think tank also believes that the statement by the founder of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, about the departure of his mercenaries from the disputed city could be an attempt to mislead Ukrainian troops.
"Prygozhin's victory over the remaining districts of Bakhmut is purely symbolic, even if it were true," the think tank wrote. The last blocks of eastern Bakhmut, which Prigozhin said were captured by Wagner group forces, are neither tactically nor operationally important. Their capture does not provide Russian forces with operationally significant territory to continue offensive operations or any particularly strong position from which to defend against possible Ukrainian counterattacks."
Experts at the study center point out that continued Ukrainian counterattacks to the north, west and southwest of Bakhmut will complicate any further advance of Russian troops beyond the city in the short term.
Yesterday, after days of claims of Ukrainian advances, the Wagner chief surprised everyone by announcing that his mercenaries had taken "full control" of Bakhmut, dropping the ace of victory on the field while Zelensky was meeting with the G7 in Hiroshima. But Ukrainians deny the fall of the city: the announcement "is false", immediately commented the spokesman of the Ukrainian eastern forces Serhiy Cherevaty.
"Our troops maintain defense in the area (of the district) of Litak" and "now, our defenders control some industrial and infrastructural structures of this area and the private sector," according to Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar, who nevertheless acknowledges a "critical situation" in Bakhmut. Prigozhin's announcement leaves no room for interpretation: "Today, May 20, around noon, Bakhmut was taken in its entirety," he said in a video in which he holds the Russian flag surrounded by his fighters. "By May 25 we will create the necessary lines of defense and hand it over to the military" of the Russian army, he added, with the sound of artillery as a backdrop to his statements.
"The operation - the meat grinder Bakhmut - lasted 224 days," Prigozhin said in camouflage, before launching a new attack on the Russian military leadership. "We fought not only the Ukrainian army here, we fought the Russian bureaucracy," he said, claiming that the losses of his mercenaries were "five times higher" due to the choices of the Russian Defense, blaming Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov for turning the offensive into "their entertainment." "One day in history they will pay for their actions."
Net of the usual internal controversies of the invaders, the announcement certainly comes unexpectedly, after days of Ukrainian claims of advances in Bakhmut and its surroundings. The city is the scene of the longest and bloodiest battle of the invasion. Both Moscow and Kiev are believed to have suffered heavy losses to hold the city, which provides important road links with other parts of the Donetsk region: east to the border with Luhansk, northwest with Sloviansk and southwest with Kostiantynivka. But its conquest would have more of a high symbolic value: if confirmed, it would in fact be a victory for Russia that has long been starving for a tangible result on the field. And it certainly would not bode well for the launch of Kiev's long-awaited counteroffensive. At the moment there is no independent confirmation of the Wagners' claim, while Kiev continues to deny the Russian conquest of the mining town.
Also in its evening update, the Ukrainian General Staff reported that "fierce battles for the city continue" and during the day, "the enemy conducted unsuccessful offensive actions in the direction of Bila Hora", a village southwest of the settlement of Donetsk. Meanwhile, it is not only in Bakhmut that war makes itself felt. Ukrainian forces announced that they shot down last night all drones launched by Russia over the Dnipropetrovsk region, the head of the regional military administration, Serhii Lysak, announced on Telegram, as
reported by Ukrinform.
"Last night the enemy launched drones against the Dnipropetrovsk region. All drones were shot down by the Eastern Air Command," Lysak wrote, adding that this morning the Russians hit the Nikopol district with heavy artillery. In particular, the community of Myrove was affected, but no casualties or injuries were recorded.
ANSA Agency
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ANSA Agency
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