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Advance in Bakhmut is first success, Ukraine top commander says
Ukrainian soldiers are seen at their artillery position on Donetsk frontline as the Russia-Ukraine war continues in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on April 24, 2023.
Muhammed Enes Yildirim | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
The defense of Bakhmut continues and recent days have shown that Ukraine can move forward and counter the Russian forces there, the commander of Ukrainian ground forces Colonel general Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Monday.
“The advance of our troops along the Bakhmut direction — that is the first successful offensive operation in the city’s defence,” Syrskyi, was quoted as saying on Ukraine’s Media Military Centre Telegram messaging platform.
“The last few days have shown that we can move forward and destroy the enemy even in such extremely difficult conditions … The operation to defend Bakhmut continues. All necessary decisions for the defence have been made.”
— Reuters
Ukraine claims more advances in embattled Bakhmut
Ukraine claimed more gains in the besieged and largely ruined town of Bakhmut in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said on Telegram Sunday that Ukrainian forces “continue to move forward in the Bakhmut sector in the suburbs.”
“Today our units captured more than ten enemy positions in the north and south of Bakhmut’s outskirts and cleared a large area of forest near Ivanivske. Enemy soldiers from different units were captured,” she said in comments translated by NBC, saying the gains had been made “against all odds.”
“Anyone who knows the real situation and is there now understands the urgency of the situation. This is when 1 meter is worth 10 kilometers in terms of difficulty of executing tasks,” she said, adding that Ukrainian fighters there were “acting on the verge of superhuman capabilities.”
Describing the situation in Bakhmut as “very hot,” Maliar said Russia had “gathered all its forces there and is trying to advance, destroying everything in its path” and that fierce battles continue.
Fighting has been raging in Bakhmut for months between Ukrainian forces and mainly mercenary fighters belonging to the Wagner Group, descending in recent months into a bloody stalemate.
In recent days, however, Ukraine appears to have redoubled efforts to push Russian forces out of parts of the town they’ve been occupying.
Ukrainian soldiers reload weapons during military exercises at a training camp amid the Russia-Ukraine war in Donetsk, Ukraine, on May 11, 2023.
Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Russia’s Ministry of Defense said Sunday evening that Ukraine’s forces had made “made massive attempts to break through the defenses of our troops” to the north and south of Bakhmut while Russian troops continued to try to capture western quarters of the town, which it calls Artemovsk. It claimed its forces had repelled all of Ukraine’s attacks.
CNBC was unable to verify the claims by either side.
Bakhmut holds little strategic value to either side but after nine months of intense combat there, winning back the town has symbolic meaning for Ukraine and is important for morale.
The Wagner Group’s leader has complained of a lack of ammunition supplies for his troops in Bakhmut amid a very public dispute with the Russian Defense Ministry.
— Holly Ellyatt
China’s special envoy heads to Europe in search of peace
China’s attempts to broker a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia step up a gear this week, with Beijing’s special representative on Eurasian affairs, Li Hui, visiting Europe for talks “on a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis,” China’s Foreign Ministry said Friday.
Li will visit Ukraine and Russia as well as Poland, France and Germany for talks “on a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis,” China’s foreign ministry said last Friday.
The ministry noted that “since the beginning of the Ukraine crisis, China has held an objective and just position and actively promoted talks for peace” and said its peace plan “takes into account the legitimate concerns of all parties.”
“This upcoming visit by the Chinese representative again reflects China’s commitment to promoting peace talks and staying on the side of peace.”
China has tried to position itself as a peace broker since early on in the war, but there is skepticism over Beijing’s ability to manage and resolve a conflict as complex, bitter and deeply embedded as the one between Ukraine and Russia.
Mladen Antonov | AFP | Getty Images
The world continued to experience the “spillover effects of the crisis,” China said, adding that it aimed to “continue to play a constructive role and build more international consensus on ending hostilities, starting peace talks and preventing escalation of the situation, and help facilitate a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.”
China has tried to position itself as a peace broker since early on in the war, but there is skepticism over Beijing’s ability to manage and resolve a conflict as complex, bitter and deeply embedded as the one between Ukraine and Russia.
Read more on the story here: China doesn’t really care who wins the war in Ukraine — it just wants to win the peace, analysts say
Read CNBC’s previous coverage here:
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