Fighting has increased in Ukraine’s eastern region after months of relative stability. Ukraine claimed to have retaken ground near the frontline city of Bakhmut, while Russia said it repelled an attack along a broad stretch of the front line. Russia’s Wagner mercenary group accused the Russian army of “fleeing” from around the eastern Ukraine city.
Ukraine claimed Friday to have retaken swathes of ground near the frontline city of Bakhmut, as Russia reported having repelled an attack along a broad stretch of the front line.
The rival reports from the battlefront indicated an increase in fighting after months of relative stability, as expectations grow over Kyiv’s spring offensive.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenary group, who is spearheading Moscow’s attack on Bakhmut, accused the Russian army of “fleeing” from around the eastern Ukraine city.
On the battlefield, Ukraine said its forces had advanced two kilometres (around one mile) near Bakhmut — the scene of the longest and bloodiest battle since Moscow’s more than year-long invasion.
Moscow denied Ukraine had made any breakthroughs in the flashpoint city, adding on Friday that it had repelled Kyiv’s forces along more than 95 kilometres (60 miles) of front near the eastern town of Soledar
Russia’s defence ministry said Ukraine had deployed more than 1,000 military personnel and up to 40 tanks.
Wagner chief Prigozhin however said Moscow’s conventional army “simply went fleeing from the flanks” near Bakhmut.
Prigozhin insisted that “the flanks are failing, the front is collapsing” in that area and said Russia’s leadership was downplaying the gravity of the situation.
“For this reason, we must stop lying immediately,” Prigozhin said in a video statement released on social media.
The social media accounts of several Russian war correspondents also spread alarm late Thursday, with some saying Kyiv’s long-anticipated counteroffensive had begun.
Zelensky, however, said in an interview published Thursday that Kyiv needed more time before going on the offensive.
Marie de La Roche Saint-André, with AFP
