Ukrainian forces are holding their positions in the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine under the pressure of an offensive by Russian troops seeking to achieve their first major victory in over half a year. According to Reuters, the sound of artillery fire was heard this morning from the Ukrainian-controlled town of Chasiv Yar, which neighbors Bakhmut to the west, where only a few thousand residents remain compared to 70,000 before the war. Meanwhile, Russian forces, bolstered by hundreds of thousands of reserve troops called up last year, are advancing from the north and south of the city, attempting to cut off the remaining roads linking Bakhmut to the west, which are used by Ukrainian forces. Moscow, which lost territory in the second half of 2022, claims that capturing Bakhmut will be a step toward seizing the rest of the surrounding Donbas region, which is now a primary target of Moscow's ongoing invasion for over a year.
On the other hand, Ukrainian parliament member Rahmanin stated, "Sooner or later, we may have to leave Bakhmut. There is no sense in holding onto it at all costs, but at the moment, we will defend Bakhmut for several reasons, firstly to inflict as many casualties on Russia as possible and exhaust its ammunition and resources." Additionally, an international team of war crime investigators reported that Russia financed and managed a network of at least 20 torture chambers in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine, which was occupied by Russia for eight months and reclaimed by Ukrainian forces last year. Russia's aim was to "subdue or change the thinking of, or kill, prominent Ukrainian civil leaders or ordinary opponents."
Source: Reuters
