The involvement of the "most trained" assault units of the Russian mercenary group Wagner has contributed to the "extremely tense" situation around the embattled city of Bakhmut, according to the commander of Ukraine's ground forces, CNN reported Tuesday.
Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi said that "despite significant losses" in the fierce fight for the eastern city, Russia "has thrown the most trained Wagner assault units into the offensive, trying to break through the defense of our troops and surround the city," according to a Telegram post from Ukraine's military media center.
As Russian troops gradually advanced north and west of the city in recent weeks, Ukrainian forces have had difficulty in keeping access to Bakhmut, which the Kremlin has been attempting to take for more than six months.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also said Tuesday that Moscow "is constantly destroying everything that can be used to protect our positions," the BBC reported.
Despite the difficult situation for Ukraine, a reporter from Reuters who visited the area on Monday said there was no sign that Kyiv was preparing to withdraw its forces and that reinforcements were arriving.
In recent weeks, Ukrainian officials have been stressing the increasing intensity of the fighting around Bakhmut, according to CNN.
Zelenskyy said earlier this week that efforts to defend the city are "getting more and more challenging," while Col. Yuriy Madyar, commander of the 28th Separate Mechanized Brigade, described the situation as "extremely difficult."
BBC reported that Zelenskyy also called again for the international community to send modern combat aircraft to Kyiv so that "the entire territory of our country" can be defended from "Russian terror."
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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