The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces defeated Ukrainian troops around the city of Vasylivka, near Bakhmut, and were continuing their attacks.
The Russian Defense Ministry said today that its forces “neutralized units from the 59th Motorized Rifle Brigade and the 3rd National Guard Brigade” of Ukraine near the cities of Pervomayskoye and Vasyukovka, Oblast. Donetsk. Vasylivka is north of the city of Bakhmut, which has been the focus of intense fighting for months that has resulted in losses on both sides.
“Fifty Ukrainian soldiers, one tank, one armored personnel carrier, two pickup trucks, one Msta-B howitzer and one D-30 howitzer were removed,” the Russian Defense Ministry report said. .
The Russian Defense Ministry also said that its forces were continuing their attacks in Donetsk. In the Kramatorsk region, Russian forces destroyed US-made HIMARS and MLRS launchers in an attack. Kramatorsk is about 55 kilometers northwest of Bakhmut.
Panoramic view of the frontline city of Bakhmut, Donetsk province on January 26. Photo: Reuters.
Ukraine has not yet commented on these reports. The Ukrainian military earlier said that Bakhmut and 10 surrounding cities and villages continued to come under Russian fire.
Russia has been trying to control Bakhmut for months with some of the fiercest fighting in the Donbass. The Russian Defense Ministry on January 30 announced the start of an offensive against Ugledar, a city located south of Bakhmut, occupying many favorable positions and causing damage to Ukraine’s 1st Tank Brigade.
British intelligence said that Russian forces carried out attacks around Ugledar and Pavlivka in order to open a new axis of attack in the Donetsk region.
Vitaly Kiselev, a colonel of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) militia, said on February 1 that Russian forces were fighting fiercely around Bakhmut to close the pincers surrounding this city, said the war commanders Ukrainian military leaders and schools are trying to convince Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to order the withdrawal of forces from Bakhmut.
Zelensky acknowledged on February 1 that the situation in the east is increasingly difficult as Russia intensifies its offensive operation. According to him, Russian forces are trying to gain advantage before the full year of the outbreak of hostilities.
Location of the city of Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, eastern Ukraine. Graphics: RYV.
Huyen Le (Theo Reuters, Mil.ru)