Ukrainians Are Repelling 15 or More Russian Attacks A Day At Bakhmut

Neither side is willing to give up. The Ukrainians want to keep the Russians focused on this one sector while it prepares to counterattack at various locales. 

The Russians appear to be hoping for even a modest victory in order to offset what they expect will be heavy losses due to the coming Ukrainian counteroffensive. JL 

Yulia Kesaeiva reports in CNN:

Near Bakhmut, “heavy battles” were raging in the city center. ““The enemy is trying to take full control of the city of Bakhmut and continues to attack. The enemy conducted unsuccessful offensives near Bohdanivka and Ivanivske. Ukrainian defense forces repelled about 15 enemy attacks in this area over the last day. The orcs (Russians) have been pushed back from the Bakhmut-Kostiantynivka road. (But) everyone moves only along dirt roads.”

The Ukrainian military and a soldier near Bakhmut say that heavy battles are raging in Russia’s continued attempt to fully capture the eastern city.

“The enemy is trying to take full control of the city of Bakhmut and continues to attack it,” Ukraine’s General Staff said in its daily update. “The enemy conducted unsuccessful offensives near Bohdanivka and Ivanivske. Ukrainian defense forces repelled about 15 enemy attacks in this area over the last day.”

A Ukrainian soldier with whom CNN exchanged text messages, who is stationed near Bakhmut, said that “heavy battles” were raging in Bakhmut’s city center.

“The orcs (Russians) must have sent fresh troops,” the soldier said. “They have been temporarily stopped, but the pressure is very strong.”

He said that all roads leading to Bakhmut continued to be shelled.

“While individual vehicles can still get through, an organized column will not be able to. The logistics are not interrupted, but entering and leaving Bakhmut is a strong test of one's luck. Almost everyone who enters or leaves comes under fire, and this is despite the fact that the orcs (Russians) have been pushed back a bit from the Bakhmut-Kostiantynivka road. Basically, everyone moves only along dirt roads.”

“In short, it is very risky and the risk is very high.”

More on Bakhmut: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday acknowledged the possibility of a military withdrawal from the eastern city of Bakhmut, but said that ammunition deliveries from Ukraine’s ally would bolster his military’s defense.

“For me, the most important thing is not to lose our military,” Zelensky said during a meeting in Warsaw with Polish President Andrzej Duda. “And certainly, if there is a moment of even more intense events and the danger that we may lose personnel due to the encirclement, there will be appropriate correct decisions made by the general on the spot. I am sure about that.”

“But the more the appropriate ammunition arrives in Ukraine, the faster we will fight the situation not only in Bakhmut but in the whole territory of our country,” he said.