‘Extremely tense’ as Russians attempt to encircle Bakhmut, – Commander

• The thaw in early spring transforms battlefields into the mud.
• Russian military marched north and south of Bakhmut.
• Russian military marched north and south of Bakhmut.

The situation in the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut was “extremely tense” on Tuesday, according to the commander of Ukrainian ground forces, as Russian troops besieging it increased their assault in an attempt to encircle it.

Russia is attempting to disrupt Ukrainian defenders’ supply lines to the city, which has seen some of the bloodiest combat of the war, in order to force them to surrender or withdraw. This would be Russia’s first big victory in more than a month and pave the way for the conquest of the final remaining metropolitan centers in the Donetsk region.

“Despite significant losses, the enemy threw in the most prepared assault units of Wagner, who are trying to break through the defenses of our troops and surround the city,” Ukraine‘s Colonel general Oleksandr Syrskyi was quoted as saying on a military messaging platform.

Earlier, Ukraine’s military stated that Russia had increased its soldiers in the Bakhmut area and was shelling communities around the city.

” Over the past day, our soldiers repelled more than 60 enemy attacks,” the military said early Tuesday, referring to Bakhmut and other eastern territories, adding that Ukrainian forces repelled Russian attacks on the villages of Yadhidne and Berkhivka, on the northern approaches to Bakhmut.

Unpredictable

According to Ukrainian military researcher Oleh Zhdanov, Russian soldiers drove a wedge between those communities as they attempted to cut the road west to Chasiv Yar.

“The southern part of Bakhmut is the only area that can be described as under Ukrainian control. In all other districts, the situation is unpredictable,” he said in a video commentary, adding: “It is impossible to say where the front line lies.”

Ukrainian forces in the Donetsk region hunkered down in muddy trenches after milder weather thawed the frozen ground.

“Both sides stay in their positions because as you see, spring means mud. Thus, it is impossible to move forward,” said Mykola, 59, commander of a Ukrainian frontline rocket launcher battery, watching a tablet screen for coordinates to fire.

The rasputitsa, or spring thaw, has a history of thwarting army attacks across Ukraine and western Russia by converting highways into rivers and fields into quagmires.

Volodymyr, a 25-year-old platoon commander, claimed his soldiers were ready to operate in any weather in a zigzag trench.

“When we’re given a target that means we have to destroy it.”

Russia has increased its offensive throughout the eastern front, bolstered by hundreds of thousands of conscripts, but the cost has been tremendous, according to Ukraine and its supporters.

“Vicious battles are going on there. The command is doing everything it can to stop the enemy from advancing through our territory,” Serhiy Cherevatyi, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s eastern military command, told Ukrainian television.

Russia claimed to have damaged a Ukrainian ammo store in Bakhmut, as well as shot down US-made missiles and Ukrainian drones.

According to Russia’s defense ministry, the US is plotting a provocation in Ukraine using hazardous chemicals. There was no instant response from the United States.

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