Ukrainian officials say Russian forces have continued their bombardment in the Donetsk region, with more than 200 attacks on the Bakhmut area alone in the past 24 hours – but they claim the Russians are losing hundreds of men a day on the front lines.
The eastern city of Bakhmut remains “the focal point of the enemy’s main attack,” said Serhii Cherevatyi, the spokesman for the Eastern Group of the armed forces.
Cherevatyi said it was difficult to say whether the intensity of the Russian attacks around Bakhmut diminished due to factors such as weather, unit rotation or reserves brought forward by the Russians.
However, he said Russian tactics have remained the same with small tactical groups “trying to exhaust our defenses”. He said soldiers from the Wagner mercenary group are near Bakhmut, with Russian troops providing reinforcements where needed.
“We’re knocking them out. In fact, there won’t be any Wagner fighters in a while if they continue the same dynamic,” Cherevatyi said.
Cherevatyi distinguished the Battle of Bakhmut from battles elsewhere. He said further north that Wagner was less present around Lyman and Kupyanskwhere regular Russian forces, supported by the Luhansk militia, had launched more than 400 attacks in the past day.
“The main task now is to resist, exhaust the enemy forces, while units both in Ukraine and abroad are trained, equipped with new defense equipment and coordinated,” Cherevatyi said.
In and around the city of AvdiivkaIn the Donetsk region, heavy Russian bombing and airstrikes continue against Ukrainian defenses.
“All the time we were in the city there were explosions. We did not see a single building that was not damaged. Unfortunately, there are still civilians in Avdiivka. People live in basements,” said military spokesman Oleksiy Dmytrashkivskyi.
But he said many citizens were unwilling to leave, especially the elderly, and there has been no electricity in the city since May last year.
Dmytrashkivskyi said the Russians tried to bypass the city “and these attacks are accompanied by constant shelling. Yesterday, the enemy managed to launch 26 attacks and suffer significant losses. More than 100 people were killed and more than 240 injured,” he claimed. “During the day they attack using aircraft, artillery and manpower. They suffer heavy losses in manpower and equipment.”