What Happening Now In Bakhmut?

The Ukrainian command is confident that it is still possible to hold the lines of retreat.

Although some Ukrainian units have withdrawn from the town, this is more a matter of rotation rather than an order to retreat. A significant number of our troops are still fighting here. There are both men and equipment.

The enemy has captured the eastern part of the town to the Bakhmutka River. The main Russian strike is not in the town, but from the north outflanking the town. The fight is along the supply route, which remains. This route is under enemy fire.

The enemy forces our troops to retreat from Bakhmut, as a real threat of encirclement has been created. But the enemy is advancing slowly, and therefore the Ukrainian command is confident that it is still possible to hold the lines of retreat for some time, disrupting the pace of advance and inflicting even more losses on the Russians.

Maintaining the town given the limited communication is not advantageous for us now from a tactical point of view. It is a question of strategy - Ukrainian commanders will hold the town until the last possible moment, as they always have done. Unlike Kherson, Balaklia, Izyum, Lyman, Kupiansk, from which the Russians fled, Ukrainians do not leave towns without considerable resistance.

The enemy has to pay dearly, and slowly goes from planting to planting, from house to house.

Anyone fighting in the town under unfavourable conditions hopes that the time of this heroic resistance is used to create reliable, well-equipped and camouflaged defensive lines to cover Seversk, Konstantynivka, Druzhkivka, Slavyansk, Kramatorsk, that combat-ready troops will be brought to these lines in time to entrench reliably and be able to defeat the enemy.

Ukrainian soldiers are demonstrating high combat effectiveness. And everywhere, where there is effective management, intelligence, organization, supply, minimal ammunition for artillery and mortars, it is possible to defeat the Russians.

We have an advantage due to better, more motivated and more resilient people. But war is a clash of two systems, and things do not depend only on soldiers.

Yuriy Butusov, Facebook