Madrid (EFE).- The Russian forces have significantly reduced their activity in Bakhmut and are now focused on firing with heavy artillery and mortar weapons, said on Thursday the commander of the Ukrainian land forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, who assured that ” the enemy has gone on the defensive” in this area of the front.
“There is a significant decrease in any offensive action by the enemy,” Syrsky said on his Telegram account. The military added that the Russian forces have increased “the bombardments with heavy weapons, especially with artillery and mortars.”
Syrskyi thus confirms what was announced last night by Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar, who wrote on her Telegram account: “The enemy’s offensive activity in the Bakhmut area has stopped.”
Malyar also reported increased artillery fire. The Russians, he said, “are changing their tools.”
Replacement of Wagner’s mercenaries in Bakhmut
According to the deputy minister, the Russian commanders in Bakhmut – located in eastern Ukraine and the scene since August of the toughest fighting on the entire front – are replacing the mercenaries of the Wagner group that have taken over almost the entire city with units of the regular army.
Wagner’s boss, Evgueni Prigozhin, announced a week ago the withdrawal of his men from the city after proclaiming the total conquest of Bakhmut by his mercenaries. Russian regular forces are taking over in areas controlled by Wagner.
The Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister also said that Ukrainian troops have in recent days interrupted their advances on the flanks of Bakhmut. “They are developing other military tasks” to “increase combat capacity,” Malyar said.
“Both sides are preparing and reinforcing for new actions. The fight for this area continues,” Malyar stressed.