(Kyiv) Ukraine claimed the “first success” of its assault around Bakhmout on Monday, advancing on the flanks of Russian defences, as its President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in London to continue his European tour and demand even more aid. military aid.
Even before he arrived in the UK, London promised the delivery “in the next few months” of “hundreds” of anti-aircraft missiles and attack drones to Kyiv, as the Ukrainian army completes its preparations to drive out Russian troops of its territory.
For several days, the Ukrainian army has said that it has been advancing north and south of Bakhmout (east), the epicenter of the fighting for several months and the scene of the bloodiest battle since the start of the Russian invasion.
“The advance of our troops in the Bakhmout area is the first success of the offensive” aimed at defending this city, now mainly controlled by the Russians, General Oleksandre Syrsky, the commander of Ukrainian ground troops, said on Monday. .
On Sunday, Kyiv had already sworn to have captured “more than 10 enemy positions north and south of the suburbs of Bakhmout”, after claiming on Friday to have recaptured two kilometers in the area.
Conversely, Russia says for its part that it is advancing within this city itself, which it has been trying tirelessly to conquer since last summer, at the cost of significant losses and without success at this stage.
Observers doubt the strategic significance of conquering this city for Moscow, but it would allow the Kremlin to post a victory after several humiliating setbacks.
On the spot, the paramilitary group Wagner is supported by the regular Russian army, although its leader, the businessman Evguéni Prigojine, regularly accuses the military hierarchy of not giving enough ammunition to his men to be able to conquer Bakhmout.
Last week, he even accused some soldiers of the Russian army of “fleeing” their positions, believing that the defenses are “collapsed”.
For its part, the Russian Defense Ministry, with which Mr. Prigojine has been in open conflict for several months, again repeated on Sunday “having repelled all the attacks” to the “north and south” of Bakhmout, sweeping away the assertions of Kiev.
A sign, however, that the situation has become complicated for the Russian army, the ministry also announced on Sunday the death in combat of two military officials, a rare communication from Moscow since the start of its invasion.