Ukrainian military: Russians are trapped in Bakhmut
The Ukrainian military continues to successfully advance in the Bakhmut area of the Donetsk region, said was the commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi.
"Bakhmut direction. There are successes. The defense forces continue to move forward, and the enemy is trapped in places," Syrskyi said, publishing a video of the work of Ukrainian snipers.
"The video shows the excellent work of the Ghost group of the separate presidential brigade named after Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky. A sniper with the call sign Alpha is working. From 1200 meters, he destroyed the enemy with one shot. During the work of the sniper, the group was hunted by an enemy UAV, which was also shot down. Well done," Syrskyi wrote.
Ukrainian General, ex-head of the Ukrainian Foreign Intelligence Service, Mykola Malomuzh said on the air of the Freedom channel that the Russians have a deplorable situation in Bakhmut.
"First of all, we should say that we will not launch a frontal attack on Bakhmut. We will conduct an operation on the flanks. This strategy continues to be used now. This is especially important in the south and north of Bakhmut. In this situation, we are not only advancing, but we are regaining the heights that we previously left, we are gaining strategic positions. This is the first component that shows that the enemy is in a semi-encirclement," Malomuzh said.
He noted that the Russians are likely to leave the city, because it is quite difficult to hold it.
"The enemy is losing morale, they are trying to keep them in any way, or to reinforce them by some means. But we have already mastered the tactics of destroying their reserves, which they bring in a specific direction. This is how we work now. We are just conducting counter-offensive operations at the tactical level and luring enemy towards ourselves, diverting them in the Bakhmut, Marinka, Lyman, Zaporizhzhia, Tavria, Avdiivka and other directions. This is a tactic of destroying their forces, but in this case not while defending, but as part of counteroffensive tactical operations ... In this situation, they have no way out," the general explained.
Malomuzh noted that Bakhmut has become a platform where Russian troops come under active fire from the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Both howitzers and missile systems reach the city.
Citing Ukrainian intelligence, the Ukrainian general said that the Russians were ready to flee Bakhmut. And for Putin, the moment of truth is coming.
"Bakhmut was a symbol of at least some victories for the Russians. But now it's a failure for them. Failure specifically on the battlefield ... Having no special strategic significance, Bakhmut will become a symbol of the great losses of the Russian Federation and a very powerful weakening of the regime. This is a failure of their entire strategy of the last year," Malomuzh stressed.
He assured that now Russian troops cannot dictate their own terms of battle.
"We dictate, we advance, and we destroy. The prospect of surrendering Bakhmut is unambiguous for them," the general stated.