Ukraine’s Bakhmut ‘practically surrounded’

Russian troops and mercenaries rained artillery on the last access routes to the besieged Ukrainian city of Bakhmut yesterday, bringing Moscow closer to its first major victory in half a year after the bloodiest fighting of the war.

The head of Russia’s Wagner private army said the city, which has been blasted to ruins, was now almost completely surrounded, with only one road still open for Ukraine’s troops.

Reuters observed intense Russian shelling of routes leading west out of Bakhmut, an apparent attempt to block Ukrainian forces’ access in and out of the city. A bridge in the adjacent town of Khromove was damaged by Russian tank shelling.

Ukrainian soldiers were working to repair damaged roads and more troops were heading towards the frontline in a sign that Ukraine was not yet ready to give up the city. To the west, Ukrainians were digging new trenches for defensive positions.

Victory in Bakhmut, with a pre-war population of about 70,000, would give Russia the first major prize of a costly winter offensive, after it called up hundreds of thousands of reservists last year. It says it would be a stepping stone to capturing the surrounding Donbas region, an important war aim.

Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, appearing in combat uniform in a video that Reuters determined was filmed on a rooftop in a village 7 km (4.3 miles) north of the centre of Bakhmut, called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to order a retreat from Bakhmut to save his soldiers’ lives.

The commander of a Ukrainian drone unit active in Bakhmut, Robert Brovdi who goes by the name “Madyar”, said in a video posted on social media that his unit had been ordered by the military to withdraw immediately. He said he had been fighting there for 110 days.

Volodymyr Nazarenko, a deputy commander in the National Guard of Ukraine, confirmed Ukrainian NV Radio the situation was “critical”, with fighting going on “round the clock”.

“We need as much ammunition as possible. There are many more Russians here than we have ammunition to destroy them.”

The past few days have seen alarm in Russia at its own potential vulnerabilities after Moscow reported a number of drone attacks on targets deep within Russia, followed by what it said was an armed cross-border raid on Thursday.

President Vladimir Putin was shown on television yesterday telling his Security Council to step up “anti-terrorism measures”.