The Ukrainian military has denied Russian claims that its forces are blockaded in the eastern Ukrainian town of Bakhmut. Although the leader of the Russian Wagner military group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, acknowledged that his fighters were on the front line on the Bakhmut front, he said it was “premature” to speak of a complete encirclement of the town. Bajmut, which used to have a population of 70,000 before the war, has become a symbol of fighting between the Russians and Ukrainians for control of the industrial region of the Donbas. Fighting in the town has been fierce for months, and the battle for Bajmut is the longest and deadliest since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022.
Russian airborne troops are supporting Wagner’s assault troops on the flanks, which has led the Russian Defense Ministry to claim that they are blocking the Ukrainian army’s dispatch of reserves to the city and the possibility of the withdrawal of enemy units. However, the Ukrainian army has denied these claims, assuring that it still has the capacity to send food, ammunition, medicine, and care for its wounded in the city.
Wagner’s leader, Prigozhin, was more cautious than the Russian military and claimed that the Ukrainian armed forces are still bringing reinforcements to the city. He also acknowledged that “difficult and bloody fighting” is ongoing, so it is premature to speak of a total blockade of the city. In recent days, Ukrainian forces appear to have lost ground in the city center, where Russian war reporters have shown images of a devastated and apocalyptic-looking city.