The Russian Army continues its efforts to surround the eastern Bakhmut, a city symbol of the war in Ukraine, said the Ukrainian Army, which claimed to have repelled the attacks.
In its daily report, the Ukrainian General Staff said it repulsed “more than 130 enemy attacks” in the last 24 hours in Bakhmut, in the eastern province of Donetsk, and several towns along the long war front.
“The enemy keeps trying to surround the city of Bakhmut”he added, without elaborating, the AFP news agency reported.
Serhiy Cherevaty, spokesman for the Eastern Group of Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said villages north and west of Bakhmut were attacked.
Shortly before, he had stated that the situation in Bakhmut was “difficult” but “under control”.
The battle for Bakhmut, which has been going on for months, has enormous symbolic value for both sides.
The Russian Wagner paramilitary group, on the front line of the battle, said two days ago that the city was “practically surrounded” and urged Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky to withdraw his troops.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), an American think tank, noted that Russian forces had gained positions in Bakhmut that could allow them to bypass some Ukrainian defenses.
“The Russians could try to encircle the Ukrainian forces in Bakhmut, but the Ukrainian command has given the signal that it would rather withdraw than risk being surrounded,” the Institute added.
Ukrainian separatist fighters fighting alongside Russia in Donetsk released a video in which Wagner fighters claim they have captured the Stupky railway station in the northern suburbs of Bakhmut.
✅????????⚔️????????☠️ Report from the Bakhmut liberated area.
The storming and clearing of the Stupky railway station on the northern outskirts of Artemovsk (Bakhmut) has been completed and the city area is now fully under the control of Wagner PMC fighters. pic.twitter.com/gSaLX6skgu
– In the Rearguard (@pueblopatriota) March 5, 2023
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu carried out an inspection of a command post on the eastern front of Ukraine, in “the Donetsk-South direction,” the Defense Ministry said, without specifying the exact location or date of the visit. .
The city of Vugledar is also in this area of operations, against which the Russian Army launched offensives in recent weeks, without success.
According to ISW, Shoigu’s visit was “apparently for the purpose of assessing the losses near Vugledar and the possibility of pursuing an offensive in that direction.”
According to images released by the Russian Army, the minister also attended a meeting with the high command in charge of the offensive in Ukraine, including the chief of the General Staff, Valeri Gerasimov.
In the past 24 hours, there have been deadly shootings at Bakhmut residential areas, killing at least five Ukrainians, according to authorities.
Ukrainian diplomacy
In the diplomatic field, Zelensky received the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, in Lviv, in the west of the country.
Both said they hoped to start negotiations for Ukraine to join the European Union (EU) this year.
Zelensky also referred to the situation of the nuclear power plant in the southern Ukrainian province of Zaporizhia, a year after its capture by Russian forces.
The president denounced the “hostage taking” of the plant, the largest in Europe, and asked Western countries to sanction the Russian nuclear industry.
In a further sign of Western support for kyiv, US President Joe Biden announced an additional $400 million in military aid for Ukraine.
The new package includes ammunition, primarily for the Himars rocket system, used by Ukrainian forces to devastating effect against Russian troops and logistics lines.