According to British military officials on Saturday, Russian forces have advanced in their campaign to take control of the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, the site of the war’s longest ground battle. However, the officials noted that the assault will be difficult to maintain without experiencing significant personnel losses.
The UK Defense Ministry’s latest assessment confirmed that the Kremlin-controlled Wagner Group’s paramilitary units have captured most of eastern Bakhmut, with the river serving as the current front line of the fighting.
Bakhmut, a mining city situated in Donetsk province, was illegally annexed by Russian President Vladimir Putin last year. Russia’s military launched an operation to capture the city in August, and both sides have suffered staggering casualties. Despite the Wagner Group’s efforts to close in on Ukrainian troops in a pincer movement, Ukrainian snipers from fortified buildings have transformed the city center’s thin strip of open ground into a “killing zone.” Ukraine has also destroyed critical bridges over the river, making it challenging for Wagner’s soldiers to move forward.
On Friday, pro-Kremlin Telegram accounts and Russian military bloggers claimed that Russian forces had entered a metal processing plant in northwestern Bakhmut. A Washington-based think tank, the Institute for the Study of War, noted that geolocated footage showed Russian forces within 800 meters of the heavily built-up and fortified AZOM plant.
The institute observed that Moscow’s focus on capturing the plant, rather than opting for a wider encirclement of western Bakhmut, was likely to result in a further wave of Russian casualties. Ukraine’s ground forces indicated on Saturday that they intend to resist in Bakhmut, announcing on Facebook that their top officer was personally overseeing “the most important sectors of the front” to prevent Moscow from achieving a long-awaited battlefield victory.