Left: Mike Coppola/Getty Images for 2022 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Ripple of Hope Gala, Right: YEVHEN TITOV/AFP/Getty Images
The assault on Ukraine’s Donbas region remains “very difficult,” with Russian forces having effectively “destroyed” Bakhmut, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Ukraine’s leader said during his nightly televised address on Friday that he had “discussed the situation on the front line and winter prospects on the battlefield” during a conversation with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak earlier in the day. He said areas of Donbas, which encompasses the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, had become lifeless wastelands following brutal and ongoing battles between Russia and Ukraine.
“The front-line situation remains very difficult in the key areas of Donbas—Bakhmut, Soledar, Maryinka, Kreminna …” Zelensky said. “For a long time, there is no living place left on the land of these areas that has not been damaged by shells and fire. The occupiers actually destroyed Bakhmut, another Donbas city that the Russian army turned into burnt ruins.”
“I thank all our heroes, all soldiers and commanders who hold the front in these directions, repulse attacks and inflict significant losses on the enemy in response to the hell that entered Ukraine under the Russian flag,” he added.
Russian attempts to gain ground in Donetsk and Luhansk have amplified in recent months, with the regions being two of four that Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed to have annexed in late September.
Zelensky’s comments came one day after the notorious Russian mercenary organization the Wagner Group successfully repelled Ukrainian counterattacks near Bakhmut, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
“Russian forces continued ground attacks around Bakhmut on December 7,” states an ISW report published Thursday. “Russian sources widely claimed that Wagner Group fighters took control of Yakovlivka and that fierce fighting is ongoing near Bakhmut in Opytne, Klishchiivka, and Soledar.”
“The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) claimed that Ukrainian troops unsuccessfully attempted to regain certain lost positions south of Bakhmut,” it continued. “Russian sources largely discussed the intensity of operations in this area and emphasized high Ukrainian losses.”
ISW analysts also suggest Putin is preparing the Russian public to accept that the war in Ukraine will become increasingly “grinding and protracted.”
Former soldier and eyewitness Petro Stone said the “meat grinder” of Bakhmut had become “the main theater of hostilities in Donbas and this war in general” during a recent interview with Kyiv Post, adding that “the Russians are covering Bakhmut with fire 24/7.”
While Newsweek was unable to independently verify casualty figures in Bakhmut, the toll is believed to be heavy on both sides of the battle lines. ISW estimated Sunday that Russian casualties averaged 100 per day, including 50 deaths and 50 injuries.
Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Ministry of Defense for comment.