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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday (5) that his army was fighting a “painful and difficult” battle against Russian forces in the Donbass region, in the east of the country, where Bakhmout, disputed by Russia for months, is located. The city still holds out, but the siege is tightening. RFI spoke to civilians in Chassiv Yar, a village full of Ukrainian artillery, 15 kilometers from the front and which could fall soon after Bakhmout.
With information from the special envoy in Tchassiv Yar, Vincent Souriau
On Sunday, the Ukrainian president hailed the bravery of his men. “I would like to pay a special tribute to the bravery, strength and resilience of soldiers fighting in Donbass,” Zelensky said in his daily statement.
Russian troops are still trying to encircle the symbolic city of Bakhmout, the epicenter of the war in eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian army said on Sunday, assuring it had repelled further attacks. In its daily report, the Ukrainian General Staff states that “more than 130 enemy attacks” were repelled in the last 24 hours, in several sectors of the front, such as Kupyansk, Lyman, Bakhmout and Avdiïvka. “The enemy continues its attempts to encircle the city of Bakhmout,” the report said, without elaborating.
Meanwhile in Chassiv Yar, not far from the front, Alina doesn’t even want to think about the possible arrival of Russians in her neighborhood. “Come in, come in!” invites her, with a big smile, smoking a cigarette in front of her grocery store, as if nothing is happening. “After all, why should I care? The soldiers are there, why wouldn’t I go on living normally? Yes, yes, I am a little crazy,” she admits. “But each one helps as they can. Me, I get scared with guns, but I stay here and sell bread and sausage, ”she says.
“They won’t get that far! The Army will stop them”, he believes. Alina wants to keep her spirits up, but for 15 days the city has been without electricity, there is no more heating, no running water and the hospitals are unable to accommodate all the wounded. “But don’t worry! We have a first aid kit. I’ll do whatever you want: doctor, nurse, technician. Yes, yes, we’ll put on a bandage, we’ll disinfect and that’s it”, says Alina, laughing.
The siege closes on Bakhmout
In recent weeks, Russian forces have advanced north and south of Bakhmut, cutting off three of the four Ukrainian supply routes and making the defenders’ position increasingly precarious.
The pro-Russian separatist army of Donetsk, which supports Russian forces, released a video purporting to show fighters from the Russian paramilitary group Wagner in the northern suburb of Bakhmout, claiming that the small railway station of Stoupky had been captured.
On Friday, the Wagner paramilitary group said it had “virtually surrounded” the city.
Villages north and west of Bakhmout were attacked, confirmed Serhii Cherevatyi, spokesman for the Eastern Group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, to the CNN, on Saturday. He said that although the situation in Bakhmout was “difficult”, it remained “under control”.
“The Russians could have tried to encircle the Ukrainian forces in Bakhmout, but the Ukrainian command gave the signal that it preferred withdrawal to risking a siege”, estimated, also on Saturday, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a group of American experts.
The battle for Bakhmout, an industrial city whose strategic importance is disputed, has been raging since the summer. The city has become a symbol because it has been at the center of the struggle between Russians and Ukrainians for months.
(With information from RFI and AFP)