April 23 (Reuters) – Russia said on Sunday its forces had advanced on Bakhmut as a top Ukrainian commander said his troops held the frontline across the city, all but destroyed in some of the bloodiest fighting in 14 months war
The Russian defense ministry said its forces had captured two blocks in western districts and airborne units were providing reinforcements in the north and south. Russia sees Bakhmut as a stepping stone to more advances in eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi shared photos on the Telegram messaging app of himself looking at a map with three other uniformed men, with the caption “Bakhmut frontline. Our defense continues.”
“We hit the enemy, often unexpectedly for him, and continue to hold strategic lines,” he wrote.
Reuters could not verify the battlefield reports.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the private Wagner military force leading the Bakhmut assault, claimed 80% control of the city. Kyiv has repeatedly denied claims that its troops are ready to withdraw.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy vowed to continue to defend the city.
“It is impossible for us to give up on Bakhmut because this is what will be done [help] expand the battlefield and give Russian and Wagner forces the opportunity to occupy more of our lands,” Zelenskiy said in an interview with Al Arabiya news channel published on Sunday.
Also on Sunday, the Russian-installed leader of Ukraine’s southern Kherson region denied a report by a US think tank that Ukrainian forces had taken positions on the east bank of the Dnipro river.
“There is no enemy foothold on the left (eastern) bank of the Dnipro river … our military completely controls that territory,” Vladimir Saldo wrote on his Telegram channel.
Citing Russian military bloggers embedded with Moscow’s forces, the Institute for the Study of War said Ukraine had “established positions” on the east bank, though it was unclear “to what extent or what intention”.
Russia withdrew forces from the western bank last year as part of a series of withdrawals that signaled a shift in momentum in Kyiv’s favor.
Natalia Humeniuk, a spokeswoman for Ukraine’s southern command, neither confirmed nor denied the report, which she told Ukrainian television described “very strong shelling” in districts around the west bank cities of Kherson and Beryslav.
“Responding to such information, the enemy intensified its attacks on the other bank,” he said. Civilians were injured and about 30 buildings were destroyed, including a school, he said.
Reporting by Jake Cordell and Dan Peleschuk; Editing by Hugh Lawson
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