The Ukrainian army reported on Tuesday an “extremely tense” situation around Bakhmout, at the epicenter of the fighting in eastern Ukraine where Russian troops are trying to encircle this city.
In Russia, the army for its part reported having shot down several Ukrainian drones which targeted civilian infrastructure, without causing any damage. For the first time, one of them crashed in the capital region, Moscow.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told him that the member countries of the Alliance “agreed” for Ukraine to become a member, as she claims, but that this objective would be achieved “at long term “.
Despite a strategic importance disputed by experts, Bakhmout has become a symbol of the struggle for control of the industrial region of Donbass. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who went there in December, had sworn to defend this fortress city “as long as possible”.
“The situation around Bakhmout is extremely tense,” Ukrainian land forces commander Oleksandr Syrsky said on Tuesday, quoted by the army’s official press center.
According to him, the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, on the front line in this battle, is trying to “break through the defense of our troops and surround the city”.
Wagner’s boss, Evguéni Prigojine, has claimed in turn in recent weeks the capture of localities around Bakhmout. Soledar fell in January, then Krasna Gora in February, and Saturday Yaguidné, located at the gates of the city.
As a result of this slow Russian push, three of the four routes allowing the Ukrainians to supply Bakhmout have been cut off, leaving only the one leading west towards Chassiv Iar, south of which the Russians are also trying to advance. .
“Bahmut will fall”
Bakhmout, which had a population of 70,000 before the war, was largely destroyed by the fighting which caused heavy casualties on both sides. Some 5,000 civilians, including about 140 children, remain there despite the danger, according to the authorities.
Mr. Zelensky had acknowledged Monday evening that the situation around Bakhmout was becoming “more and more complicated” for the Ukrainian soldiers, who described scenes reminiscent of those of the First World War.
Ukrainian soldiers interviewed by AFP in Bakhmout on Monday said they were keeping their spirits up.
“We cannot know the whole operational situation but we are here, we did not flee,” said a 44-year-old soldier whose nom de guerre is “Kaï”.
“Not only Bakhmout but Crimea and all the rest: we will recover everything,” added “Died”, 45, drawing on a cigarette.
“Fox”, 40, is more pessimistic: “I understand what country we are fighting against […] They have smart people there, people who know how to fight. They think, they learn, the same way we do.”
“I think Bakhmout will probably fall,” he said, referring to a lack of ammunition and manpower on the Ukrainian side.
Drones in Russia
Russia, for its part, said on Tuesday that a Ukrainian drone crashed on Tuesday about 100 kilometers from Moscow, not far from a gas compressor station. Three others were shot elsewhere in the country, without causing any damage.
Several incidents involving drones have occurred in recent months on Russian territory, sometimes very far from the front in Ukraine, but this is the first time that a drone has been reported near the capital.
These clashes are taking place after the war in Ukraine entered its second year last week.
On the diplomatic front, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, an ally of Moscow who has so far refused a direct engagement in the conflict other than by letting Russian forces operate from his territory, arrived in Beijing on Tuesday.
China, Moscow’s partner on the international scene, last week proposed a 12-point document in which it urges Russians and Ukrainians to dialogue, but also insists on respect for territorial integrity and opposes any recourse to nuclear weapon.
If Westerners generally welcomed this Chinese diplomatic intervention with skepticism – French President Emmanuel Macron announced to him this weekend that he would go to Beijing in April – President Zelensky said he was ready to “work” with Beijing and announced his intention to also meet his counterpart Xi Jinping.