Bajmut in danger? Unmasking the threat of its capture
Bajmut has been the news epicentre for several weeks, with Russian troops slowly advancing in an attempt to surround it. President Volodymyr Zelensky declared on Wednesday that his forces "keep every sector of the front under control".
According to Sergiy Cherevaty, spokesman for the Eastern Group of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the Russians have focused on breaking through the defences with artillery and multiple rocket launchers. Although the dynamics of the fighting have been and remain quite complex, they are fully controlled by the Ukrainian military.
According to Yuriy Syrotyuk, a former deputy and now a fighter with the 5th Assault Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, artillery is actively working from the south and the enemy has continued assault operations, but all frontal attacks are failing. According to their estimates, the Russians are simply destroying their offensive potential.
The official telegram channel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine published an appeal of one of the soldiers of the 93rd Brigade "Kholodny Yar". According to him, today they managed to "dampen" the enemy a bit, and the city itself is calmer than before, however, there is still fighting with small arms in the vicinity. This suggests that the situation is not yet fully under control.
Russia says that seizing Bajmut would open the way to full control of the rest of the strategic industrial region of Donbas bordering Russia, one of the main targets of its invasion a year ago on 24 February.
In recent days, the enemy has seized Berkhivka from the north, launched an assault on Bohdanivka and could capture Yahidne. On the southern side, attacks are underway southwest of Bajmut, near the village of Ivanivske. The obvious aim is to cut the road to Kostyantynivka. From the east, Russian troops already partially control the private sector and are trying to advance further. As of 1 March, the "grey zone" still extends along the banks of the Bakhmutka River, but it is shrinking every day towards the urban areas.
Ukraine claims that Bajmut is of limited strategic value, but has nevertheless put up fierce resistance. Russian forces are trying to cut off the supply routes used by Ukrainian forces in Bajmut to stop any movement along them. They are trying to encircle the city in order to take it, as they cannot win a street battle, nor attack head-on. This strategy is a major threat to Ukrainian forces in the area, as it will limit their mobility and make it difficult for them to get supplies.
An 18-second clip of President Zelensky has gone viral, with claims he said US sons and daughters will have to die for Ukraine.
— Shayan Sardarizadeh (@Shayan86) March 1, 2023
He said no such thing. The full 3-minute answer shows he said Ukraine losing the war would risk Russia invading Blatic states and involving Nato. pic.twitter.com/z7A7O6TPLz
Roman Kostenko, secretary of the parliamentary committee on national security, defence and intelligence, told RBC-Ukraine in an interview that Bakhmut was not surrounded.
"To be honest, I don't remember that in the war political decisions were made about the battlefield. This is a military necessity and we understand that, firstly, Bajmut is our territory, and, secondly, Bajmut is not yet surrounded. And if we surrender all the cities just because of the threat from nearby, we can only give in to a certain extent. We must fight to the end and squeeze out everything we can," he said.
Oleksandr Musienko, head of the Centre for Military Legal Studies, told RBC-Ukraine that the threat of a complete encirclement is quite real, but the Defence Forces are doing everything they can to avoid it. And if the situation suddenly becomes extremely unfavourable and the enemy begins to close the encirclement, the troops will have to withdraw.
Something burning ? pic.twitter.com/1KYU9GgIkz
— Getty ?? (@slavaukrainewin) March 2, 2023
Serhiy Cherevaty stresses that Ukrainian troops can withdraw in an organised manner if the threat to personnel and the operational situation is greater than the need to hold territory. But this is not yet the case in Bakhmut, and there is no order to withdraw.
In February, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stressed that it was important to defend Bajmut, but not at any price. According to him, the assessment of whether or not Bajmut is strategically important depends on how you look at it. But he did not give the troops the order to hold the position until death. This war is not about staying and dying, but about the fact that we are in our country and we will defend it for as long as we can.
However, the situation in the Bajmut area is constantly getting more and more complicated, the intensity of the fighting is increasing and the enemy is destroying everything that the Ukrainian troops can use to defend their positions. At the same time, Zelensky made an encouraging statement about the beginning of preparations for the liberation of the occupied territories.
Very intense footage coming from Ukrainian trenches.
— Rammstein Fella✙?? (@rammstein_fella) February 17, 2023
You can very clearly see how an orc is sent to hell when he tried to storm the Ukrainian position. pic.twitter.com/TIUqTY8nlU
Soldiers are preparing to return to active action and liberate their land from oppression. The goal is just and every day they are getting closer to its realisation. The last speech was a reminder of the importance of continuing to work towards liberation.
