Ukrainian forces under pressure in Bakhmut
Russian forces have very likely seized the centre of the fiercely contested city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine and are threatening a key supply route for Ukrainian forces to the west, British intelligence said yesterday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday his troops would pull back from the small city, which has been the main focus of Russia's assault on Ukraine for months, if they came under risk of encirclement.
Asked to comment on the British report, a Ukrainian military command spokesman told Reuters the situation was difficult in Bakhmut and that Russian forces were concentrating all efforts to take the city but were not having "strategic success".
The battle for Bakhmut, one of the last urban centres in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk province yet to fall to Russian forces, has proven one of the bloodiest of the war.
Donetsk is one of four provinces in eastern and southern Ukraine that Russia declared annexed last year and is seeking to fully occupy in what appears to be a shift in its war aims after failing to overrun the country early in the war.
Yesterday's daily update from British military intelligence contrasted with the usual emphasis on Ukrainian successes.
"Russia has made further gains and has now highly likely advanced into the town centre, and has seized the west bank of the Bakhmutka River. Ukraine's key 0506 supply route to the west of the town is likely severely threatened," it said.
Eastern Military Command spokesperson Serhiy Cherevatyi said Ukraine controlled the situation in Bakhmut and understood Russian intentions.
"The situation is difficult, the enemy is concentrating maximum efforts to capture Bakhmut. However it is suffering serious losses and not reaching strategic success," Cherevatyi said by telephone, without elaborating.
Western analysts say both sides are losing large numbers of troops in the battle for Bakhmut, where Moscow has said it has taken control of the city, including part of the centre.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's leaders discussed ways to prevent leaks of military information yesterday after secret documents detailing US and Nato efforts to help the country plan a counter-offensive against Russia's invasion reportedly appeared on social media.
The New York Times said on Thursday, citing senior US officials, that classified war documents were posted this week on Twitter and Telegram, which is widely used in Russia.
A Ukrainian official told Reuters the documents contained a "very large amount of fictitious information" and the posts looked like a Russian disinformation operation to sow doubts about the offensive, which requires advanced Western weapons.
"These are just standard elements of operational games by Russian intelligence. And nothing more," presidential official Mykhailo Podolyak said in a written statement. The Kremlin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The announcement by the presidential office of talks yesterday at the Ukrainian headquarters of the armed forces supreme command attended by President Volodymyr Zelensky made no mention of a leak having occurred.
"The participants of the meeting focused on measures to prevent the leakage of information regarding the plans of the defence forces of Ukraine," it said.
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