Russian troops are said to have encircled hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers at the Battle of Bakhmut. The fighters should entrench themselves in tunnels.
Bakhmut – The battle for the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut in the Ukraine war has been going on for months – with high losses on the Russian and Ukrainian sides. Currently, Russian troops have taken the eastern part of Bakhmut, Ukrainian soldiers are holding the western part of the city, which is now almost completely destroyed. Ukrainian fighters are now said to be in tunnel systems under an industrial area – surrounded by Russian troops.
Battle for Bakhmut: Selenskyj wants to defend the city at all costs
It was only on Tuesday (March 14) that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced after a meeting with his top military command that he wanted to continue defending Bakhmut despite everything. The decision was unanimous. The head of the Ukrainian army, Valery Zalushny, also emphasized the importance of defending Bakhmut from Ukraine’s point of view in a Facebook post the same day: “The defensive operation in this area is of the highest strategic importance to repel the enemy,” he wrote .
The situation in the battle for Bachmut could meanwhile continue to deteriorate. According to Russian media reports, hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers are said to be trapped in tunnels under an industrial area in Bakhmut and besieged by Russian soldiers. The scenario is reminiscent of the week-long defense of the Azov steelworks in Mariupol by Ukrainian militants in April and May last year. There, too, the Ukrainian defenders had entrenched themselves in underground tunnel systems.
Russian media: Hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers in tunnels under Bakhmut
The pro-Kremlin Russian newspapers Rossiskaya Gazyeta (RG) and Pravda reported that Ukrainian troops were in underground corridors under the Vostokmash plant in the Artyomovsk Metal Processing Plant (AZOM) industrial zone in the northern part of the city – a metal processing center in Bakhmut (Artyomovsk or Artemovsk is the Russian name for Bakhmut). However, the reports have not been independently confirmed.
Rossiskaya Gazyeta also refers to the Russian Telegram channel „Military- Chronicle“, according to which 300 Ukrainian soldiers are said to be in the underground facilities under the Vostokmash plant. The total number of Ukrainian troops in the industrial area is said to be 500, according to the Post. Underground facilities under the nearby Makeevka metal works are also to be used by the Ukrainian side.
Battle of Bakhmut: Russia is said to have occupied industrial area
Die Rossiskaya Gazyeta also quotes Russian military journalist Alexander Simonov, according to whom Russian soldiers have already stormed the industrial zone in Bakhmut and taken control of the Vostokmash plant, where the Ukrainian soldiers are said to be. According to Simonov, Wagner mercenaries have penetrated the underground tunnels and fighting is currently taking place at depths of up to 320 meters.
Sea Pravda many military observers would see similarities between the fighting in the AZOM industrial zone and that around the Azov Steel Plant. Military observer Boris Rozhin also compared AZOM to Azovstal. The metal processing plant occupies a huge area in the north of the city of Bachmut and has an extensive network of underground supply passages that reach down dozens of floors. It will therefore be difficult to capture against the stubborn resistance of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, he said. (kasa)