Ukraine has said Russian forces are “quite a long way” from taking Bakhmut, and fighting is taking place around the city’s administration building, over which Wagner claims the Russian flag was raised. “Bakhmut is Ukrainian, they haven’t captured anything and, to put it mildly, they are quite far from it,” a spokesman for Ukraine’s eastern military command told Reuters.
He said it was not clear where the Russian forces had raised their flag and their claim that they had captured the city was false. “They raised the flag over some toilet. They attached it to who knows what, hung their rag and said they took over the city. OK, let them think they took it over,” the spokesman said.
The fighting around Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine continues to be “particularly fierce”, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, quoted by Reuters.
He gave no indication that the city was eventually taken over by Russia, as the founder of the Wagner mercenary group had previously announced.
Yevgeny Prigozhin said his forces, involved in the months-long effort to encircle and capture Bakhmut, had raised the Russian flag over the city’s administration building. “From a legal point of view, Bakhmut has been captured. The enemy is concentrated in the western parts,” Prigozhin said in a video posted yesterday on Telegram.
There is no confirmation from the Ukrainian side that Bakhmut has fallen. Prigogine has previously made claims that have since turned out to be premature, Reuters notes.
Ukraine’s armed forces said today that Bakhmut and several other towns, including Avdeevka, were at the “epicenter of hostilities”. “The enemy continues to attack the city of Bakhmut. However, our defenders are holding the city bravely,” the statement said.
In his traditional evening video address yesterday, Zelensky thanked the military who are fighting in Avdeevka, Mariinka and Bakhmut. “Especially Bakhmut. It’s especially hot there,” he said.
Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hana Malyar earlier called the situation in Bakhmut “tense.” Ukrainian forces are defending their positions and the Russians are not paying any attention to the losses they are suffering while attacking, she said.
Reuters notes that it has not been able to confirm the credibility of reports about the situation on the battlefield.
Prigogine declared that Bakhmut was “legally” captured
A Russian flag has been raised over the Bakhmut administration, said the founder of the private military company “Wagner” Yevgeny Prigozhin, quoted by TASS.
“It’s now April 2, exactly at 11:00 p.m. Behind me is the city administration building [на Бахмут]. This is the Russian flag – [на Владлен Татарски, който загина в неделя при бомбен атентат в Санкт Петербург]. This flag says “We will remember you fondly”. Legally, we took Bakhmut,” said Prigozhin, whose words were quoted on the Telegram channel of his press service.
The owner of “Wagner” adds that the commanders of the units of the Russian troops, which have taken over the city administration and the entire central district, “will carry and raise flags.”
According to Prigozhin, there are still Ukrainian troops in the western districts of Bakhmut.
Russia and Ukraine are recruiting new soldiers ready for a long war
Russia and Ukraine are ramping up recruitment of soldiers to fight and die in muddy trenches, ruined cities and vast minefields to bolster their badly depleted armies, another sign that the two countries are preparing for a long war. his analysis in the New York Times.
On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree authorizing a larger-than-usual spring recruitment drive to recruit about 147,000 people, about 10% more than the same spring campaign in 2022. While it is unlikely that recruits to go immediately to the battlefield – and one Russian official claims that they will not be sent there at all – conscription will create a larger pool of potential soldiers for the Russian army, which has suffered huge losses.
Ukraine, which is also trying to replenish its ranks, said it had received more than 35,000 applications for the new force it is forming, the Offensive Guard. For several weeks, trying to attract volunteers, the Ukrainian government put up posters and billboards around the country and touted its plan for a network of combat brigades that would work under the Ministry of Internal Affairs alongside regular troops.
All the while, more Western weapons are arriving in Ukraine, and officials say Kiev will soon launch a counteroffensive to regain lost territory in the east and south of the country.
Neither Ukraine nor Russia have disclosed their death tolls, but Western officials and analysts say both countries have suffered huge losses in manpower. US officials estimate that around 200,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded since the full-scale Russian invasion began last February, and Ukraine has suffered more than 100,000 casualties.
Recent weeks of fierce fighting in the east of the country, particularly in cities and towns such as Bakhmut and Avdiivka, have cost Ukraine a large number of soldiers, including some of its most experienced fighters. US officials said last month that at times hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers were being wounded or killed every day.
Despite cracking down on dissent from the war in Russia, Putin remains sensitive to public opinion and has periodically faced outrage from relatives of soldiers and sailors — for example, after the sinking of Russia’s flagship in the Black Sea. This week, Russian officials appeared to try to quell fears that the latest recruits would soon be on the battlefield.
On Wednesday, Zelensky will make an official visit to Poland
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, will pay an official visit to Poland on April 5, his foreign policy advisor Marcin Pshidach announced, Reuters reported.
Pshidach said on EMFF radio that the visit was at the invitation of Polish President Andrzej Duda.
There will be long, detailed talks, not only about the security situation, but also about economic and political support, the advisor stressed.
Pshidach announced that on Wednesday, President Zelensky will also meet with Ukrainians who have received asylum in Poland, on the square in front of the palace and museum complex of the Royal Castle in Warsaw.
So far, Pshidach recalled, Zelensky has only been to Poland on short working visits, most recently on his way back from the US in December 2022.
The German Vice Chancellor and Minister of Economy is visiting Ukraine
German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck, who is also Minister of Economy, arrived in Kyiv for political talks, accompanied by a small business delegation, DPA reported.
The visit is focused on updating cooperation in the energy sector.
The aim is to “give hope to Ukraine” that the country will be rebuilt after the war, Habek said during his trip to Kiev, adding that investment decisions have already been made or will be in the near future.
