Bloody battles are going on in the city of Bahmut, it is said that the city is surrounded by the Russian army.
In the besieged city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, volunteers who collect dead civilians risk becoming victims themselves, the Guardian reports. “Where? Where?” demands Daniel Wilk, a Canadian driver, in a video recorded recently in the city. The wolf continues quickly, moving anxiously as he crosses the precarious path across the snow as another voice repeatedly shouts, “No, no”.
The bodies were cut in half by the force of the explosion and are still lying where they fell three days ago. They are quickly gathered into a sheet to be removed. People who managed to reach Bakhmut in the past week use the same word to describe what they experienced: hell.
As flames and smoke billow from burning buildings, the city, almost completely surrounded by Russian forces, has been engulfed in constant fire and explosions in recent days.. With the roads leading to the city under constant fire from two sides, and with snipers in the streets, access to the city became increasingly dangerous for rescue teams, as increasingly speculated that Ukrainian forces would have to withdraw.
“We have not been able to reach the city center in recent days“said Olha Danilova, who, like Vilk, works for the Ukrainian non-governmental organization Dobrij ruh, which worked in Bakhmut for all seven months of the Russian attack. “The closest we could get was 500 meters from the city center. It’s very loud. Everything was shelled from mortars. You can’t go there. Last time we were trying to evacuate civilians by the river. We couldn’t even get close,” said Olga.
“The main road we used was constantly shelled. February 27th was the worst. It was a hellish day. It was the hardest day we’ve had since we’ve been working here. It was a wall of fire. Two walls of fire. It was coming from all side, and the air force was attacking.” “It was very difficult. If you try to go down the main road, someone will try to kill you. There are snipers on the street shooting at civilians. It’s total carnage,” added Vilk.
“I’ve been all over the city. There are still some parts that look almost normal for a city in Donbass. The rest is completely devastated. The last time I entered, I counted six clouds of smoke. There are fires everywhere,” he stressed.
Bahmut is about to fall
In the week in which the situation is for Bahmut’s defenders became almost untenablethe accounts of Danilova and Vilk, as well as other civilian volunteers who spoke to the Guardian, paint a vivid picture of a city that many fear could soon fall into Russian hands.
A dark tone crept into the social media posts of even some of the city’s staunchest defenders, including “The Hungarian,” a drone commander who celebrated his efforts. “All you need to know is that as of March 1, Bahmut is still standing. The price of its maintenance is expensive. And it’s getting harder and harder to hold it,” he added, referring to Russian efforts to cut off the city’s last supply lines.
Supply routes cut
In recent days, even amid reports of Ukrainian reinforcements rushing into the area, forces have struggled to defend Russian advances north and south of the city. With the supply routes now under heavy fire from Russian artillery, including phosphorus munitions and anti-tank guided missiles, a long, slow encirclement that has cost thousands of Russian soldiers their lives is choking off the last approach. “Our army will obviously consider all options. So far they have held the city, but if necessary, they will withdraw strategically,” Aleksandar Rodnyansky, economic adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky, said earlier this week. “We will not sacrifice all our people for nothing.” , he said.
The Wagnerians play a significant role
Rodnyansky noted that Russia was using the best troops of Wagner’s group to try to encircle the city. The private military company known for its brutal tactics is headed by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a millionaire with longstanding ties to Vladimir Putin.
Prigozhin said on Wednesday that he had not seen any signs of a Ukrainian retreat and that Kiev was actually strengthening its positions. “The Ukrainian army is deploying additional troops and doing everything it can to maintain control of the city,” he said. “Tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers are putting up fierce resistance, and the fighting is getting bloodier every day.
Ukraine’s deputy defense minister, Hana Maliar, said earlier this week that reinforcements had been sent to Bakhmut.
(WORLD)