Ukraine Calls Bakhmut "Critical," More Russians Attacking Than Ammo

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Ukrainian artillery teams fire Pions toward Russian positions in Bakhmut on Feb. 5, 2023. Madeleine Kelly/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

A Ukrainian commander said fighting in Bakhmut is "critical" and there are more Russians than ammo.

The head of Russia's mercenary Wagner group said the city is almost surrounded by Russian forces.

Bahkmut has been the site of some of the deadliest combat in the war for both sides.

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A Ukrainian commander said the situation in Bakhmut, a city in eastern Ukraine, is "critical" and that there are more Russian troops surrounding the city than there is ammunition to kill them all.

Volodymyr Nazarenko, a deputy commander in the National Guard of Ukraine, told Ukrainian NV Radio that the fighting is currently going on "round the clock" as Russians relentlessly push to capture the city, according to a translation from Reuters.

"They take no account of their losses in trying to take the city by assault," Nazarenko said, adding that Ukrainian troops are trying to "inflict as many losses on the enemy as possible."

But it may not be enough. Reuters reported that Nazarenko told the radio station that Ukrainian soldiers in Bakhmut have less ammo than there are Russian troops attacking the city.

"We need as much ammunition as possible," he said, according to Reuters' translation. "There are many more Russians here than we have ammunition to destroy them."

On Friday morning, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner Group, a Russian mercenary organization, appeared in a video telling Kyiv that Bakhmut was "basically surrounded," the Wall Street Journal reported.

"The pincers are tightening," Prigozhin said, urging Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to pull his forces from the area.

There's currently only one road left out of the city, CNN reported, and the Russian bombing of a vital supply bridge to Bakhmut has cut Ukrainian forces from critical resources.

The Wagner Group pushed much of the offensive into Bakhmut this past weekend, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Bakhmut has been the site of some of the deadliest combat in the war, with Ukraine and Russia experiencing high losses.

Insider previously reported that Bakhmut was being referred to as "the meat grinder" by soldiers. A retired US Marine fighting alongside Ukrainian forces said a fighter's life expectancy on the front lines in Bakhmut was around 4 hours.

Noctrin on March 4th, 2023 at 06:53 UTC »

From what i read Russia, specifically Wagner, sends in prisoners or other poorly trained troops in large groups to overwhelm the defense, find weak points and then capitalize on the weak points by sending their well trained units to push there.

What i dont get is how those "expendable" troops have the morale to follow orders. "What are my orders?" .. "Run that way and let's see how long it takes you to die"..

Wart-Boy on March 4th, 2023 at 06:39 UTC »

Such a waste.

gloom_lagoon on March 4th, 2023 at 05:45 UTC »

Seems like something you wouldn’t want your enemy to know