Russian forces have intensified efforts in the Bakhmut sector and are trying to recover lost positions, the commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, Oleksandr Sirski, reported today.
“Bajmut sector. The Russians have become more active, they are trying to regain previously lost positions. The defense forces act professionally. The enemy’s attacks are repelled,” he wrote in a message on Telegram.
Sirski also reported that he made a work trip to the military units carrying out combat missions in the Bakhmut and Liman directions. “I examined on the ground options for new actions, ways to improve the effectiveness of the combat use of our troops,” he said.
For his part, the chairman of the reservist council of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, Ivan Timochko, specified that Russia’s tactics on the Bakhmut front consist, first, of withdrawing and then, when the Ukrainian troops take positions, “they counterattack with all their might.” their forces, very hard, aggressively, in order to recover their lost positions.
In statements to the FreeDom radio station cited by the Unian agency, he added that the fact that Avdiivka resists what was supposed to be a “quick operation” and the Russian casualties there make Russia cling to Bakhmut to “compensate.”
At the same time, he stressed that if the Ukrainian forces manage to surround Bakhmut, the Russian contingent, between 10,000 and 15,000 troops according to different data, would also be surrounded, and Moscow would be faced with the dilemma of withdrawing, sending additional forces or abandoning his troops there.
“Apart from the human losses, the ‘loss’ of Bakhmut will be a serious blow to the reputation of the head of the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin,” he added.
