Bakhmut city in eastern Ukraine (Photo: US Department of Defense).
Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service last week “alarmed” about heavy Ukrainian losses in the Bakhmut battlefield when the number of Ukrainian soldiers killed in the city reached “three figures per day”.
Vitaly Kiselev, an official in the separatist region of Lugansk (eastern Ukraine), said that the Ukrainian army deployed 14 brigades in battles in Bakhmut and Soledar. According to Kiselev, intense fighting with Russian forces in the past time has caused Ukraine to lose 60-70% of its manpower in two hot spots in the Donbass region.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov announced that the Russian army took control of the city of Soledar on the evening of January 12. He said full control of the city would allow to cut off supply routes to the Ukrainian army in Bakhmut.
Spokesman of the Eastern Military Command of Ukraine Serhiy Cherevatyi confirmed on January 25 that the country’s troops had withdrawn from the city of Soledar in the Donetsk region.
According to the assessment of German intelligence, both Russia and Ukraine have been trying to control the strategic city of Bakhmut for the past few months, but the situation is not favorable for Kiev. They warn that if Russia controls Bakhmut, Ukraine will have to bear serious consequences.
Earlier, Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelensky, confirmed that the situation on the Bakhmut front was “extremely difficult”, but that Ukrainian forces were trying to hold the line.
Bakhmut has strategic significance for both Russia and Ukraine. If Moscow captures Bakhmut, it can disrupt Ukraine’s supply lines and open up a Russian offensive to put pressure on Kramatorsk and Sloviansk – key Ukrainian strongholds in the Donetsk region, thereby taking complete control. whole Donetsk.
For Ukraine, Bakhmut is not only a defensive point but also one of the major transport hubs and the last in Donbass is in Kiev hands. All supply lines of the Ukrainian army to Donbass must pass through here.