JAKARTA - Ukrainian troops holding out in the eastern city of Bakhmut are digging new trenches in an attempt to hold back the Russian attackers, driving Moscow forces back from capturing the strategic city.
Russian troops have been attacking Bakhmut in Donetsk province for months, sometimes in wave attacks, making the site one of the war's bloodiest battlegrounds.
"In the last 24 hours, our troops have repulsed more than 170 Russian attacks, an unprecedented number over a 24-hour period for the five main sectors of the front," military analyst Ukraine Dari Zhdanov said on YouTube late Thursday. March.
Zhdanov describes the Russians trying to outflank Bakhmut from the north, east and south. Meanwhile, on the west side of the city, Ukrainian troops still held initiative control.
Russia, which lost its territory in the second half of 2022, says seizing Bakhmut would be a step towards seizing the rest of the surrounding industrial area known as the Donbas.
Ukraine, meanwhile, says the city is of limited strategic value, but wants it to be used to wipe out Russian troops.
Ukrainian forces are known to have repelled attacks on Bakhmut and two settlements to the west, Khromove, and Ivanivske, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in a statement late Thursday.
Russian shelling hit Bakhmut and several nearby towns, including Chasiv Yar, the largest city in the west, and two towns south of Bakhmut, he said.
In nearby towns and villages, new trenches had been dug by the roadside 20–40 meters (65–130 ft) apart, a sign that Ukrainian forces were strengthening defensive positions.
Meanwhile in the central Zaporizhzhia region and in the Kherson region on the southern front, Russian troops shelled more than 40 towns and villages, said a Ukrainian military statement.
Russia says it is targeting infrastructure as part of what it calls a "special military operation" to bring down Ukraine's military and eliminate what it says are threats to its own security. Meanwhile, Ukraine and its allies accuse Moscow of waging an unprovoked war to seize territory.
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Separately, Washington will announce a new $400 million military aid package for the Kyiv Government, and is expected to be a top topic between US President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz when they meet at the White House, officials said.
The aid is expected to consist primarily of ammunition including the Multiple Launch Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) for the HIMARS launcher, ammunition for the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, as well as bridges for the armored vehicles, two US officials and a person familiar with the package said.
The United States has so far provided nearly $32 billion in weapons to Ukraine to defend itself against Russia, which attacked its pro-Western neighbor on February 24 last year.
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