Ukrainian Military Says Russian Troops Are Making No Progress on Bakhmut, Losing Many Armored Vehicles and Tanks

JAKARTA - Russian troops have made no significant headway, despite relentless attempts to capture the bombed eastern towns of Bakhmut and Avdiivka, according to the Ukrainian military.

The two cities along with other communities in the Donetsk industrial area continue to take the brunt of the Russian offensive, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a statement late on Tuesday.

"They are just trying to exhaust our troops with attack after attack," Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesman for the eastern military group, said on national television, reporting 70 incidents of shootings in Bakhmut.

The Ukrainian military said Ukrainian fighters were continuing to repel the attack, causing Russia to lose a lot of troops to the fighting.

Ukrainian military commanders said a counteroffensive, backed by recently delivered Western hardware, including German Leopard 2 tanks, was imminent, but stressed the importance of holding Bakhmut for the time being.

Meanwhile, Britain's Defense Ministry said Russian troops had made "small progress" in encircling Avdiivka, but had lost heavy armor and tanks.

Russia's 10th Tank Regiment, which took part in operation Avdiivka, was burdened by problems of poor discipline and poor morale, and "may have lost most of its tanks", the ministry said.

Separately, the leader of Russia's Donetsk region Denis Pushilin said most Ukrainian troops had withdrawn from a metal factory in western Bakhmut and Russian troops were making headway.

"The important thing here is clearing the industrial zone at the factory itself. You could say that has already been done, with the people who stayed to finish off the (Ukrainian) fighters there who were only left in small groups," Pushilin told TV Russian government.

His claims contradict Ukrainian and Western claims that the situation in Bakhmut is stabilizing and Russia's winter offensive is faltering.