8 March (UPI) – On Wednesday, conflicting information was supplied concerning the state of Bakhmut, the next target of Moscow’s invasion, by the Russian mercenary outfit Wagner and Ukrainian officials.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the creator of Wagner, declared in a Telegram post that his troops had taken over “the entire eastern half of Bakhmut.”
The Wagner PMC has complete control of everything east of the Bakhmutka River, according to Prigozhin’s press office.
But, according to Ukrainian sources, over 100 Russian soldiers have been killed in the past 24 hours and their forces have resisted 72 attacks on the area.Serhiy Cherevatyi, a military spokesman, stated on Ukrainian television that the Wagnerians had received reinforcements due to their significant losses. “They were reinforced by units of airborne forces, motorized units of airborne troops, mechanized units, artillery, and aviation,” he added.
Jens Stoltenberg, the secretary-general of NATO, issued a warning on Wednesday that Bakhmut might fall soon.
In a statement, Stoltenberg said, “We have witnessed terrible fighting in and around Bakhmut over the past few weeks and months, and what we observe is that Russia is rushing in more troops, more forces, and what Russia lacks in quality, they try to make up for in quantity.”They have suffered big losses, but at the same time, we cannot rule out that Bakhmut may eventually fall in the coming days,” he said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday that his nation’s forces would continue to defend Bakhmut against Russian advances. Foreign observers downplayed the importance of holding the position, with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin saying “it is more of a symbolic value than it is strategic and operational value.”
Zelensky defended the reinforcement of Bakhmut in an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.
