Ukrainian official: Russia has not taken control of Bahmut
A Ukrainian official in the besieged city of Bahmut said there was fighting in the streets but that Russia had not taken control. The city in the eastern region of Donetsk was almost destroyed in nearly seven months of shelling. Its capture would represent Moscow's first major victory in the last six months, the BBC reports.
At the same time, according to UNIAN, the commander of the Special Operations Forces (SSO) of the Ukrainian army, Viktor Horenko, went to Bahmut, where he checked the activity of his units and also talked about the current situation regarding the defense of the city against the Russian aggressors - according to a report published Saturday morning.
*“All SSO units of Ukraine involved in the defense of Bahmut clearly fulfill their assigned tasks. Our soldiers constantly work in extremely difficult conditions and do everything to reduce the number of enemy forces every day," Horenko said.
The brigadier general checked the activity of subordinate units defending Bahmut and involved in fighting in eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Earlier, Kiev announced that the commander of the "East" Forces Group of Ukraine, Oleksandr Sirski, was also in Bahmut. On March 3, he discussed with the military in Bahmut about strengthening the defense capacity in the front line.
We remind that the group of Russian mercenaries Wagner said on Friday that the city in the east of the country, intensely disputed, is surrounded by its forces. Russian troops also launched artillery fire near Liman, which is north of Bahmut, as well as other towns in the Donetsk region, the Ukrainian military said.
In the city of Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region, the Ukrainian authorities ordered the mandatory evacuation of vulnerable residents - women, the elderly, children, the disabled - due to constant Russian bombing.
