Has Russia really «fell into a trap» in Bakhmut?

A Ukrainian soldier fires a 2S22 Bogdan self-propelled howitzer at Russian troops. Photo: Stringer/Reuters

While the generals are walking, Alexander Syrsky is one of the laconic ones.

But from time to time the commander of the Ukrainian ground forces will issue a laconic summary that cannot be overlooked: “Bakhmut. The enemy fell into a trap, the city is under fire control of the defense forces,” he wrote on Telegram on Monday.

Work continues. On the Bakhmut direction, the enemy breaks through from positions.

Ukrainian access restrictions and battlefield reports make it difficult, if not impossible, to verify such claims immediately.

The post was accompanied by drone footage of a Ukrainian strike on a Russian AGTM team on top of an apartment building.

It was a reminder of the realities of the battlefield, but did little to dispel the fog in the valleys of the Donbass.

What is clear is that Bakhmut is part of the frontline where the Ukrainians feel they have momentum — and enough profit to justify a little boast.

Anna Malyar, Deputy Minister of Defense, acting as the chief military representative of Ukraine, added a little more words, but no more content: “Our defenders have been keeping enemy entrances, exits and movement through the city under fire for several days. . This became possible due to the fact that in the process of advancing, our troops took control of the main dominant heights around Bakhmut,” she said on Monday.

1307 ukraine bakmut map

Almost two months since Yevgeny Prigozhin announced the victory of the Russians in Bakhmut, officially ending one of the longest urban battles in Europe since the Second World War.

Then the battle map resembled the wide-open mouth of a man with a rather large nose , ready to drink the remnants of the Ukrainian ledge, like sediment from a half-liter glass. Bakhmut himself had already disappeared down his throat, ending a grueling nine-month-long urban battle.

But even before Bakhmut fell, Ukraine began to retreat from these flanks. Today, the fat man received a deforming blow to the nose north of the city.

The Ukrainians pushed the Russians back from the critical country and are on the outskirts of the villages of Bergovka and Yakhidnoe.

And on the southern flank, the fat man's lower jaw has not so much moved away as fallen off his face.

The Russians won. in Bakhmut two months ago, but the battle for the city continues. Photo: Prigozhin's press service. the outskirts of Klishcheevka, a village Ukraine lost in January.

The village itself, located in a valley five miles south of Bakhmut, is probably not as important as the plateau above it, which rises about 200 meters above sea level.

These may be the dominant heights, which said Mrs. Malyar. k.

General Syrsky's laconic remarks are in a good tone. But the claim that the Russians are «stuck» in the city they have been capturing for so long awaits confirmation.

The fire control supply routes are within reach and under effective Ukrainian artillery fire. This is bad news for the defenders, but not the same as cutting them off.

In February and March, the Russians effectively controlled the Ukrainian supply routes to and from Bakhmut, but this did not stop the supply drivers. from attempting and completing the run.

Aerial view of destroyed buildings during the Russian invasion of Bakhmut. Photo: 93rd Cold Yar Brigade/Reuters

The Ukrainians are also advancing faster than the Russians in their turtle offensive, but the distances covered are still small.

Ms. km around Bakhmut. .

The queue may have straightened, but Ukrainians are still far from forming their own jaws around the city, let alone closing them.

We cannot expect that the Russians will advertise their own failures. But they have confirmed heavy fighting is taking place in the area.

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday that its forces had repelled Ukrainian attacks in three districts of the Donetsk region, including Klishchevka.

“Rybar ”, a Russian propaganda outlet with opaque ties to the military, reported on Tuesday that “Ukrainian armed forces have not stopped attacking tactical heights near Klishchevka in an effort to break through the city’s defenses in the south.”

En Tuesday, an anonymous Ukrainian military account posted a video from the field with the caption: «Klishchevka (not ours yet)».