Wed 29 March 2023:

Ukrainian forces are apparently pushing back Russian forces from an important supply route in Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, British defence experts said on Wednesday.

“One of the key achievements of recent Ukrainian operations has likely been to push Russian Wagner Group fighters back from the 0506 route,” the British Ministry of Defence said in its daily assessment.

The road has become a “critical supply line” for the Ukrainian defenders, the report said. The Wagner troops had previously been “within a few hundred metres” of the road.

Meanwhile the battle for Bakhmut goes on. However, Russian attacks were still at a lower level compared to previous weeks, the ministry said.

“With Wagner having confirmed the release of at least 5,000 prisoner fighters, personnel shortages are likely hampering Russian offensive efforts in the sector,” it said.

Britain’s Defence Ministry has been publishing daily updates on the course of the war since the outset of Moscow’s full-scale invasion last year. London aims to counter the Russian narrative, though Moscow argues the reports constitute a disinformation campaign.

‘Smell’ weakness

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned unless his country wins a months-long battle in the eastern city of Bakhmut, Russia may begin building international support for a peace deal that could require Ukraine to make unacceptable compromises.

If Bakhmut falls to Russian forces, President Vladimir Putin would “sell this victory to the West, to his society, to China, to Iran”, Zelenskyy said.

“If he will feel some blood – smell that we are weak – he will push, push, push,” Zelenskyy told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The president said he worries the war could be impacted by shifting political forces in Washington. “The United States really understands that if they stop helping us, we will not win.”

While some Western military analysts have suggested the city is not of significant strategic importance, Zelenskyy warned a loss anywhere at this stage in the conflict could put Ukraine’s hard-fought momentum at risk.

“We can’t lose the steps because the war is a pie – pieces of victories. Small victories, small steps,” he said.

Zelenskyy’s comments were an acknowledgement that losing the seven-month-long battle for Bakhmut – the longest of the war so far – would be more of a costly political defeat than a tactical one.

He predicted the pressure from a defeat in Bakhmut would come quickly – both from the international community and within his own country. “Our society will feel tired. Our society will push me to compromise with them.”

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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