Ukrainian tanks near Bakhmut. © LIBKOS/AP/dpa
The battle for Bakhmut is considered the longest and bloodiest of Russia's war in Ukraine. Now the Russian side claims to have captured the largely destroyed city.
Bakhmut/Moscow - Russia has declared the battle for Bakhmut decided and announced the complete capture of the city in eastern Ukraine. The private army Wagner had completely conquered Bakhmut with the help of artillery and air support from the Russian armed forces, the Ministry of Defense in Moscow said during the night, according to the Tass news agency.
Earlier, the head of the Wagner mercenaries, Yevgeny Prigozhin, had already announced the capture of the city, which has been extremely fiercely contested for months and has now been almost completely destroyed. Initially, there was no confirmation of this from the Ukrainian side. Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin congratulated the Wagner troops and the Russian army.
Bakhmut largely in ruins
The battle for Bakhmut is considered the longest and most costly of the Russian war of aggression, which began 15 months ago with the invasion of the neighboring country. At that time, the city still had 70,000 inhabitants, but now it is largely in ruins. Nevertheless, Ukraine did not give up Bakhmut in order to prevent Russian troops from breaking through further inland. President Volodymyr Zelensky had ordered not to abandon the symbolic city.
Bakhmut is the main part of the defensive line established after the Russian capture of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk between the cities of Siversk and Bakhmut in the Donetsk region. Should the city actually fall to the occupiers, the road to the major cities of Slovyansk and Kramatorsk would open up for the Russian troops. This would bring a complete conquest of the Donetsk region planned by Russia closer.
Prigozhin had announced yesterday in uniform and with the Russian flag in his hand the conquest of Bakhmut. At the same time, he once again criticized the Russian military leadership: "We fought not only with the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but also with the Russian bureaucracy, which threw sticks between our legs," Prigozhin said in a video. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov had made the "war their personal pleasure." Their whims and the military bureaucracy have led to "five times as many soldiers dying as should have died."
Demand on Moscow
On the other hand, he thanked President Putin for giving the Wagner fighters the opportunity to fight for Russia. That was a "great honor," stressed Prigozhin, who is considered a close confidant of Putin. The Wagner troupe had helped the "disheveled Russian army to find its way back to itself". He now wants to leave Bakhmut to the regular troops. According to Prigozhin, Wagner's troops have been fighting for control of Bakhmut since October 8 - now a recovery phase is imminent. But Wagner is ready to continue fighting for Russia.
Referring to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to the G7 summit of leading democratic economies in Japan, Prigozhin said Kyiv's troops had fought "bravely and well". Zelensky should send greetings to US President Joe Biden from the Wagner army, the best in the world. In the direction of Moscow, he addressed the demand to hold accountable those who had dragged out the battle for Bakhmut by withholding ammunition, materiel and fighters.
To reinforce the battle, Prigozhin had also recruited convicted criminals in Russian prisons. He said that 23 times more personnel and 27 times more ammunition would have been needed to take the city faster. Prigozhin also recalled the many fallen, without giving any figures. Because of the high losses on both sides, the mercenary chief had called the battle for Bakhmut a "meat grinder".
Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Defense: "Situation is critical."
Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar contradicted Prigozhin's words on Saturday afternoon, saying "heavy fighting" in Bakhmut continued. At the same time, she admitted: "The situation is critical." However, the Ukrainian armed forces defended their positions and still controlled individual industrial and infrastructure objects. At first, it did not react to the Russian government's announcement of victory.
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Malyar had previously said that the Russian military had deployed thousands of troops to Bakhmut for reinforcements and continued to attack "with heavy losses disproportionately exceeding our losses." The Ministry of Defense in Moscow also spoke of heavy losses of the enemy. The information provided by both sides on the fighting could not be independently verified. Dpa