Artillery concentrations along the entire front line continue, but the Russian troops have still made little progress.
Russia’s relentless artillery barrages have battered the front line in Donetsk.
– There is not a single square meter in Bahmut that is safe from enemy fire or drones, said the Donetsk governor Pavlo Kyrylenko On Ukrainian television, according to the news agency Reuters.
As the anniversary of the attack approaches, Russia has intensified its attacks in the eastern and southern parts of the front.
Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg on Monday saw this as an indication that an attack was already underway.
However, the feared breakthrough has not happened.
Ukraine announces that its armed forces have repelled five attacks in Luhansk and six in Donetsk region in the past 24 hours. In addition, one attack has been repelled in the Kharkiv region.
Ukrainian newspaper Kyiv Independent (you will switch to another service) according to Bahmut area and city, there have been 85 combat encounters.
Spokesman of the Eastern Group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Serhii Cherevatyi said, according to the newspaper, on the American CNN channel, that the fighting continues, but the situation has remained under Ukraine’s control.
“The situation is difficult, but under control”
Also according to Kyrylenko, the situation is difficult, but under control:
– Russia has not managed to achieve tactical or strategic success, said Kyrylenko.
According to Ukraine, Russia has suffered heavy losses in Vuhledar, which is located 150 kilometers southwest of Bahmut. Russia is reported to have lost soldiers and armored vehicles.
According to the British Ministry of Defence, Russian forces, led by mercenaries from the Wagner group, have advanced slightly north of Bahmut.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi thanked the Ukrainian soldiers who prevent the occupiers from besieging Bahmut.
There are still five thousand civilians in the city, which has been devastated by prolonged fighting, and the Ukrainian authorities are trying to evacuate at least the wounded to safety.
About 70,000 people lived in Bahmut before the war, most of whom have fled the city.
Getting those still in Bahmut to safety may prove difficult, as it was reported that the roads leading to the city were already in the line of fire of Russian forces last week.
Ammunition maintenance is being considered in Brussels
The NATO Defense Ministers meeting in Brussels is considering the supply of ammunition to the Ukrainian forces.
– The war has become a war of consumption, and it is also a battle for the success of maintenance, reminded Stoltenberg.
He listed the artillery as needing ammunition, spare parts and maintenance.
– Different types of maintenance are needed so that the weapon systems can be maintained, he said.
NATO is planning to increase its weapons stocks. Ukraine needs more ammunition for its defense than the Western countries can supply.
On his arrival in Brussels, the German Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius said the country had stepped up procurement of ammunition for the Gepard anti-aircraft armor previously supplied by Germany to Ukraine.
There have been difficulties in the production of ammunition because the German Defense Forces removed the Gepard carriages from active use more than ten years ago.
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