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There has been a significant drop in hostilities on the ground around the city of Bakhmut as Russian forces rotate in and out of the area, but shelling continues incessantly, Ukrainian officials say.
Serhii Cherevatyi, spokesperson for the Eastern Grouping of the Ukrainian military, said Wednesday there had been only two or three clashes in the area over the past two days. But he said the Russians were covering their rotation of forces with artillery fire, and Ukrainian positions had been shelled 343 times Wednesday. In turn, Ukrainian fire killed 78 Russians and destroyed a variety of weapons and ammunition dumps, he said.
The departure of Wagner units and their replacement with Russian regular forces continued, Cherevatyi said.
“They are trying to deploy those among the best units that are left. The units which have already taken part in battles: units of the occupier’s airborne troops, motorized rifle units. However, they arrive not in their best moral-psychological state,” Cherevatyi said. “The rotation process is still ongoing. Whether this has strengthened or weakened them we will see in the coming days.”
Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar told Ukrainian television the southwestern outskirts of Bakhmut remain under the control of the Ukrainians.
“In fact, the enemy’s offensive activity in the Bakhmut sector has been stopped. [But] the enemy has increased the number of artillery attacks … The number of attacks today is equal to the times of the heaviest battles for Bakhmut,” Maliar said.
Maliar said Ukrainian troops, for now, were not trying to advance on the Russians’ flanks but said “the fight for this direction continues.”
One soldier in the Bakhmut area, Yurii Syrotiuk of the 5th separate assault brigade, said heavy thunderstorms had interrupted airstrikes but “enemy artillery is actively working,” as were mortars and rockets.
Syrotiuk said Russian forces tried to counterattack in recent days, but were unsuccessful.
“The famous Donbas mud does not allow the movement of people nor equipment,” he said, adding that this was impeding the Ukrainians’ own efforts to push forward.
He also drew a distinction between the Wagner fighters and Russian regular units, which he said “do not fight like Wagnerites, as they are not being sent as cannon fodder under the threat of execution. So they make very languid attempts of attacks, which we repel and then the enemy artillery starts working.”
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