In a reflection of the precarious position Ukrainian forces find themselves as they hold onto the battered city of Bakhmut, the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces visited soldiers in the city for the second time in less than a week.
Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky said that Russia is throwing “the most prepared units” into the fight for the city and that he was assessing “problematic issues related to increasing the defense capability of our units on the front line.”
Russia launched its offensive to take Bakhmut over the summer, and the fighting has rarely relented. Though Ukraine has put up a stiff defense, in recent weeks Moscow’s forces have made gains that put the critical roads in and out of the city in jeopardy.
There were three main arteries that provide lifelines for thousands of Ukrainian soldiers fighting in and around the city. Russian forces have been working to cut them off and are closing in on the last road, according to soldiers and volunteers who regularly used the roads.
The challenge for Ukrainian commanders at the moment is ensuring that if a withdrawal is necessary they execute it at the right time, minimizing losses after holding out for as long as they could. The gravest risk for Ukrainian forces is that they would be encircled, trapped and killed in large numbers.
A more immediate risk is that Russia will make it impossible to resupply the Ukrainian fighters in and around Bakhmut. On Friday, Volodymyr Nazarenko, a deputy commander in Ukraine’s national guard, said soldiers defending the critical southern supply line “stand firm.”
If that changes — which it could any day, in either direction — then the calculations of Ukraine’s military and political leaders would also likely shift.
The information campaign around the battle has also intensified, with Russia portraying the city as on the verge of capture. Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister, Hanna Maliar, said in a statement on Thursday that Russia was ”spreading the narratives that are intended to demoralize the Ukrainian military and society.”
As if on cue, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner mercenary force that has helped lead Russia’s assault on Bakhmut, released a video on Friday saying that the Ukrainians only had one road left to escape the city and urged President Volodymyr Zelensky to order a withdrawal.
“The pincers are closing,” he said.
It is not the first time Mr. Prigozhin has made bold proclamations, many of which have proven false. Still, the precariousness of the Ukrainian grip on Bakhmut has been evident for weeks.
The commander of a Ukrainian drone unit, who goes by the call sign Magyar and has offered frequent updates from inside Bakhmut, said in a video message on Thursday that it was “getting harder and harder” to hold the town. On Friday, he posted a video saying his unit had been ordered to withdraw from the city to another position. He offered no other details.
Thomas Gibbons-Neff contributed reporting.
