Ukraine prepares for the siege of Bakhmut while keeping the pulse in the south

Ukrainian forces seek to tighten the encirclement around Bakhmut while continuing the slow but stubborn reconquest of territories in the south of the country, where they encounter fierce Russian resistance.

“The most active military operations are currently taking place in the direction of Bakhmut,” acknowledged the Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Hanna Maliar, on Telegram.

Maliar specified that in the area of Klishchivka, one of the suburbs of Bakhmut, as a result of the offensive actions, the Ukrainian forces “were successful”, without offering further details.

The head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Andri Yermak, has published, for his part, a photo of Ukrainian soldiers with the country's flag, allegedly made in Klishchivka.

Klishchivka, new reconquest

“Ukraine always returns what is its own,” Yermak wrote, hinting at the seizure of the town, which the Ukrainian General Staff has not yet commented on.

Control over Klishchivka, less than 10 kilometers from Bakhmut, will seriously affect the balance of forces in that area and will allow the Ukrainians to deliver blows to the Russian rear.

Russia, for the moment, has not officially commented on the situation in that village either, and its military bloggers have been divided between those who consider the town lost and those who insist that the fate of the village has not yet been determined.

At the same time, according to Kiev, its forces also have successes in the direction of Melitopol, in the south, where they inflict significant losses on the Russian forces, “forcing them to withdraw from occupied positions,” Maliar noted.

New rain of drones in Russia

At the same time, kyiv maintains pressure on Moscow with drone attacks on Russian territory. Russian anti-aircraft defenses shot down two drones that “intended to attack the Russian capital” during the night of this Saturday, reported the capital's mayor, Sergei Sobyanin.

The first drone was neutralized in the town of Istra, in the Moscow region, and the second, hours later, in Ramenskoe, 50 kilometers from the capital. According to Sobianin, preliminary information indicates that “there was no damage or destruction due to falling fragments” of the downed aircraft.

The Russian Defense Ministry has reported, for its part, the downing of drones in the Moscow region and the annexed Crimean peninsula. In Crimea, according to the Russian military, an attempt by the kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack with four drones was “repelled.”

Russia has also recorded drone attacks this Sunday in Oriol, where the drone damaged an oil deposit; in Tula, where the drone crashed into a logistics center, and in Voronezh, where the device was intercepted before hitting a target.

The day before, Russia shot down two drones in regions bordering Moscow that were apparently also heading to the Russian capital.

Moscow troops resist the push

According to the Russian military, the country's army is resisting the Ukrainian push in the east and south of the country, where it repels successive attacks by Ukrainian troops.

According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, since the start of the war in Ukraine its forces have destroyed a total of 11,919 enemy tanks and other armor.

Meanwhile, in the fighting on different fronts on the last day alone, more than 600 enemy soldiers were killed, according to the latest Russian military report, which still does not recognize the progress claimed by Kiev.

A “long” war

Meanwhile, the Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, reiterated this Sunday in an interview that the war in Ukraine does not have a quick end and will be “long.”

“We must prepare for a long war,” warned the Norwegian politician, who assured that if Kiev stops fighting, “its country will disappear,” while if Russia does, “then we will have peace.”

The head of NATO has also expressed his conviction that sooner or later Ukraine will become part of the alliance.