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Alleged visit to the front: Russia's Defense Minister Shoigu (left) and a Russian commander at an undisclosed location
Photo: Uncredited / dpa
For months, Russian and Ukrainian forces have been fighting each other around the frontline town of Bakhmut.
So far, the troops from Kiev have withstood the attacks.
Now there are several reports of fierce fighting and high losses for Russia.
The eastern Ukrainian industrial city has been contested since last summer.
The fighting also continued over the weekend.
"The enemy is continuing its attempts to encircle Bakhmut," the Ukrainian general staff said, referring to the repelled attacks there and in other eastern Ukrainian cities.
In the video: Impressions from the embattled city of Bachmut
The day before, "more than 130 enemy attacks" had been repelled, particularly in Bakhmut, Kupyansk, Lyman and Avdiivka.
Army spokesman Sergey Cherevaty said the situation in the eastern Ukrainian industrial city of Bakhmut was "difficult but under control."
Russia is supposed to burn its own forces as »cannon fodder«
According to international observers, the Russian side in particular suffers high losses because they sometimes literally burn their own soldiers as »cannon fodder«.
Kiev estimates the number of people killed and injured on the Russian side at up to 500 every day.
The Wagner group of mercenaries is particularly active in the area around Bachmut.
Their boss, the oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is close to the Kremlin, has also recruited his men in Russian prisons in the past.
It is precisely among them that the losses are said to be extremely high, according to reports.
The head of the Wagner Group said on Friday that his units had "practically surrounded" Bachmut.
There was only "one road" left to conquer.
According to the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW), the Ukrainian army is unlikely to be surrounded in the embattled city.
The high command "signaled that it would probably withdraw rather than risk being surrounded," the ISW explained.
Russia's defense ministry reported on Sunday of "offensive actions" by the air force and artillery in the Donetsk region, where Bakhmut is located.
The Kremlin also reported on Saturday that Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu had visited the front.
Russia's defense minister meets with military leaders responsible for offensive
The Russian Ministry of Defense published a corresponding video.
Shoigu inspected a "command post" in the south of the Donetsk region, the ministry said, without giving the exact place and date of the visit.
In the video, Shoigu could be seen in a helicopter, talking to a soldier in front of damaged buildings and awarding fighters.
The minister wears no helmet and apparently no bulletproof vest.
Shoigu also met the military responsible for the Ukraine offensive, including Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov.
According to the ISW, Shoigu probably wanted to find out how large the Russian losses were around the city of Wuhledar, 150 kilometers southwest of Bakhmut, and whether another offensive in this direction was possible.
British military experts are also trying to get a picture of the situation at the front.
The daily short report from the British Ministry of Defense now addresses the bizarre consequences of the arms and ammunition shortages for Russia.
Russian soldiers apparently also fight with spades
Moscow also used ordinary field spades in close combat, the document said.
The background to this is statements by Russian reservists who are said to have stated that they were only sent with "guns and shovels" to attack a concrete Ukrainian base.
Meanwhile, Ukraine is pushing for more arms supplies and demanding fighter jets from its supporters.
In the SPIEGEL interview, Latvia's Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins spoke out in favor of sending fighter planes to Ukraine.
“I don't see why the West shouldn't supply fighter jets.
If the Ukrainians need fighter jets, they should get them,” he said.
The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, recently encouraged the member states to comply with the demand from Kiev.
She met President Volodymyr Zelenskyi this weekend in Lviv, western Ukraine.
Metsola spoke out in favor of starting EU accession talks with Kiev later this year.
His government is also working towards this goal, said Zelenskyj on Twitter.
In addition, investigations into war crimes are to be made easier.
Ukraine has accused Russia of committing serious war crimes since its invasion began a year ago.
The cabinet in Kiev on Saturday approved an agreement reached with the International Criminal Court (ICC) that will allow for the early opening of an office of the ICC prosecutor in Ukraine.
asc/dpa/AFP
