Ukrainian forces repelled numerous Russian attacks in Bakhmut over the past 24 hours, Kyiv said on March 4, despite claims by Moscow’s mercenaries that the eastern city that has been the focal point of Russia’s months-long assault had been nearly completely surrounded.
Live Briefing: Russia’s Invasion Of Ukraine
RFE/RL’s Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia’s full-scale invasion, Kyiv’s counteroffensives, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL’s coverage of the war, click here.
However, Western military experts said the situation in Bakhmut remains critical and that Ukrainian defenders are coming under “increasingly severe pressure.”
In the eastern region of Donetsk, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in its daily bulletin that the Ukrainian military had repelled more than 150 attacks by Russian troops over the last day around Bakhmut, Lyman, Avdiyivka, and Shakhtarsk.
“The enemy is ceaselessly attempting to encircle Bakhmut,” the General Staff said, adding that numerous attacks were repelled by Ukrainian fighters in the adjacent areas of Vasyukivka, Dubovo-Vasylivka, and Ivanivske.
Ukrainian officials have suggested that their troops might have to pull out of Bakhmut entirely once the defense of the city becomes too costly and withdraw to new positions in the west and northwest, where Ukrainians are reported to have far stronger defensive positions.
Despite the situation, which was described by a Ukrainian commander as “critical,” Kyiv’s defenders were reportedly digging in at defensive sites and were not yet ready to give up the town.
“All units involved in the defense of Bakhmut clearly perform their tasks. Our soldiers are constantly working in extremely harsh conditions and doing everything to ensure that the number of enemy forces is reduced every day,” General Viktor Khorenko, the commander of the Special Operations Forces, wrote on Facebook.
On March 3, Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Kremlin-linked businessman and founder of Russia’s notorious Wagner mercenary group, claimed in a video that Bakhmut — which Moscow has been unsuccessfully trying to conquer for the past seven months — is nearly surrounded, with only one final escape route remaining open.
The British Defense Ministry said in its daily intelligence bulletin that the Ukrainian defense of Bakhmut is “under increasingly severe pressure, with intense fighting taking place in and around the city.”
WATCH: Ukrainian crews being trained on British Challenger 2 tanks in England say the vehicle’s power, mass, and operating controls will be a welcome addition on the battlefield in the Donbas region.
British intelligence said in its report that regular Russian forces and Wagner mercenaries had made further advances into the northern suburbs of the city, which is now vulnerable to Russian attacks on three sides.
“Ukraine is reinforcing the area with elite units, and within the last 36 hours two key bridges in Bakhmut have been destroyed, including a vital bridge connecting the city to the last main supply route from Bakhmut to the city of Chasiv Yar,” the report said.
Western experts have questioned the Russian push for Bakhmut, saying it has less strategic and more symbolic value for Russia.
In the northeast Kharkiv region, Ukrainian authorities, meanwhile, ordered a partial evacuation of the liberated city of Kupyansk because of constant and intensive Russian shelling.
The United States announced on March 3 that it will provide a fresh $400 million military aid package for Ukraine. The new aid was announced during German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s visit to Washington.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the assistance package “includes more ammunition for U.S.-provided HIMARS and howitzers, which Ukraine is using so effectively to defend itself, as well as ammunition for Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles, Armored Vehicle Launched Bridges, demolitions munitions and equipment, and other maintenance, training, and support.”
Washington has so far given nearly $32 billion in military aid to Ukraine since the start of Russia’s unprovoked invasion in February last year.
Late on March 3, the White House said that Biden “reaffirmed the strong bilateral relationship” with Germany during his meeting with Scholz as both reiterated their commitment to impose costs on Moscow over the Ukraine war.
