“The overall situation in the area of special military operations is under control,” the ministry said, using the government-mandated term for the war in Ukraine. The denial came unusually quickly. However, the ministry did not comment specifically on the situation in Bakhmut and statements made by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner troop, and by Russian military bloggers about the increasingly bad situation of Russian troops.
Prigozhin had repeatedly warned of an impending pocket due to unsecured flanks. Poddubny also reported Ukrainian breakthroughs in fighting around Soledar, which is only a few kilometers northeast of Bakhmut.
Lots of rumors from military bloggers
There, Ukrainian units managed to break through the Russian lines. “The situation is difficult,” wrote Poddubny. The Russian forces only took Soledar at the end of January after weeks of heavy fighting. Recently it became known that the units of the Russian army at Bakhmut were apparently no longer cooperating with the Wagner mercenaries.
According to the BBC, pro-Putin Russian military blogger Sascha Kots reported that Kiev has already begun its offensive. As an indication of this, he said that columns of low-loaders with western tanks had been sighted on the Kharkiv bypass. According to the US think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW), the statements are an expression of increasing “panic” in Russia over speculation about a Ukrainian counter-offensive.
Kiev: Russian airstrikes to halt advance
The Ukrainian army spokesman Serhiy Cherevatyj reported in the evening of desperate attempts by the Russian units to stop the further advance of the Ukrainians with massive artillery strikes and airstrikes. The intensity of the fighting has increased, said Cherevatyj, according to the Unian agency. On Thursday alone, 165 Russian soldiers were killed and another 216 wounded, he claimed. His information could not be verified, nor could that of the other party.
Enerhoatom boss: No need to fight for nuclear power plants
According to the operator, the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant could be spared a Ukrainian counter-offensive. It is enough to cut off the Russian occupying forces in the power plant from the hinterland, Petro Kotin, head of the Ukrainian nuclear company Enerhoatom, told US broadcaster CNN. “All we have to do is cut the connection between the Zaporizhia NPP and Crimea (the Black Sea Peninsula annexed by Russia),” Kotin said.
That will be achieved as soon as the Ukrainian troops have captured the city of Melitopol, a good 90 kilometers south-east of the power plant in Enerhodar. After that, the Russian troops would only have the option of fleeing or surrendering. The six-block largest nuclear power plant in Europe in Enerhodar was occupied immediately after the Russian invasion in March last year.
Zelenskyj before visiting Italy?
According to Italian media reports, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is considering a visit to Rome at the weekend. There he could meet Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and also be received by Pope Francis, according to the ANSA news agency on Thursday evening.
announced judicial reform
For Ukraine’s path to the European Union, Zelenskyy has drawn up a “comprehensive strategic plan” to reform the criminal law and the law enforcement system. “Put simply, we need to ensure a law and order system for our country consistent with our goal of Ukraine’s speedy accession to the EU,” Zelensky said in his nightly video address on Thursday.
“Ukraine should become and already is a place of strength for Europe and the entire free world.” Ukraine has officially been a candidate for EU membership since last summer.
Waiting for more arms shipments
Zelenskyj had dampened expectations on Thursday that the counter-offensive could begin soon. Equipment is still missing for this, he said in a BBC interview. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken promised further arms deliveries “if there are gaps and deficiencies”. The Ukrainian side should announce this, “and we will do everything we can to fulfill it,” Blinken told US television station PBS on Thursday, according to the Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform.
