Ukrainian forces are clinging to the eastern city of Bakhmut as Russia seeks its first major victory for more than half a year. Moscow says seizing Bakhmut would open the way to fully controlling the rest of the strategic Donbas region.
Delivering a regular morning roundup of the situation across the frontlines, the Ukrainian military's general staff said on Thursday that the enemy was continuing to advance toward Bakhmut and “is storming the city.”
“I believe that sooner or later, we will probably have to leave Bakhmut. There is no sense in holding it at any cost,” Ukrainian member of parliament Serhiy Rakhmanin said on NV radio late on Wednesday. “The enemy is attempting to sever the routes used to supply our forces in Bakhmut and halt all movement along them,” he said. “The Russian forces cannot win street battles in Bakhmut or take the city by attacking head-on. The only way they can take the city is to surround it.”
Russian forces were also making preparations for new attacks in the central Zaporizhzhia region and on the southern front in the Kherson region, the military said. More than 40 towns and villages were shelled, it said, including the regional center of Kherson and other towns on the west bank of the Dnipro River, abandoned by Russia in November.Constant shelling has pounded streets in Bakhmut, making even routine journeys perilous for residents.
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