JAKARTA - Russian troops on Tuesday urged to advance to surround and seize the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, where the Ukrainian military described the attack as constantly taking control of the strategic city.
Mastering Bakhmut, where some of the bloodiest fighting for a year, will be Russia's first great prize in more than six months.
The city's occupation will pave the way to seize the remaining last city centers in the Donetsk region, one of the four Moscow claims has annexed.
"In the Bakhmut sector, the enemy launched offensive actions and continued to attack Bakhmut," a routine evening statement by the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said.
While most Russian attacks focused on Bakhmut and other cities and villages in Donetsk Province, the statement said Russian troops opened fire on more than 20 settlements in the northern region near Russia's borders: Chernihiv, Sumy, and Kharkiv.
In reaction, Ukrainian aircraft launched three attacks on the concentration area of Russian troops, the statement said.
Around Bakhmut, Russian troops, including mercenaries from the Wagner Group, tried to cut supply lines for Ukrainian troops and forced them to surrender or withdraw.
"Despite significant losses, the enemy deployed the most prepared Wagner striker unit, which tried to break through our troop defense and surrounded the city," Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukrainian ground forces, said in a statement.
An unnamed soldier from the 93rd Separate Mechaniced Ukrainian Brigade, speaking on the Telegram messaging app when the explosion boom boomed in the background, making a challenging note: "February 28, the city of Bakhmut. The city is on fire, an urgent enemy. Everything will happen."
Russian state-owned RIA news agency released a video clip that it said showed Russian Su-25 fighter jets roaring over Bakhmut, which had a pre-war population of around 70,000, but is now in ruins after months of intense trench war.
"We are pleased they belong to us," said a man in a clip identified as Wagner fighters, adding the jets were helping them "psychologically".
Separately, US Deputy Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl said yesterday, Ukraine's eastern front line resembles a "hard sedan" and Russia will likely not be able to make significant territorial gains in the near future.
"Both sides remain in position, because as you can see, spring means mud. So, it is impossible to move forward," said Mykola, commander of Ukraine's frontline rocket launch battery, while looking at the tablet screen for firing coordinates.
Russia has added its troops to hundreds of thousands of military service, intensifying attacks along the east front but at high costs, Ukraine said, which is expected to launch a counter-attack soon.
It is known, Despite experiencing several setbacks on the battlefield, Russia still controls about a fifth of Ukraine's territory. Kyiv has so far ruled out talks with Moscow and demanded that Russian troops withdraw to the Ukrainian border in 1991, the year of the collapse of the Soviet Union.
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