The American Institute for the Study of War reports that Russian troops will not be able to surround Bakhmut in the near future. Despite the fact that the invaders continue to make great efforts to seize the city in the Donetsk region.

This was told to Channel 24 by a military expert, a veteran of the Russian-Ukrainian war, reserve major of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Aleksey Getman. He recalled that the occupiers set an infinite number of times when they would capture the city. But they never made it.

The Russians are sending forward mobilized

He noted that for the Russians, the capture of Bakhmut is, first of all, a political goal, and only then a military one.

They tried to cordon off the city from the North and from the South, advanced along the M 03 highway south of Bakhmut for about 10 kilometers in the direction of Chasovoy Yar. And now they are 5-7 kilometers from it, – said the major of the reserve of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

According to him, the encirclement battles are now continuing, not as intense as before. The Russians are not able to surround the city everywhere, so they are trying to “squeeze out” our troops wave after wave, moving a short distance. But they try to do it all the time.

“Forward, as always, they send newly mobilized people. They go” to the slaughter “in order to find out where our firing positions are located at this time. Then the enemy starts firing artillery there,” Hetman stressed.

Military expert on the situation in Bakhmut: watch the video

Everything you need is supplied to Bakhmut

He noted that at the end of the year about 40,000 “Wagnerites” fought near Bakhmut. Now there are about 7 thousand of them left, and they were taken to the south of Kherson. On the Left Bank of the Dnieper, they were redeployed or understaffed, and now they are again seen near Bakhmut.

But there are not only Wagner PMCs, but also attack aircraft of the Russian army, landing troops. They are trying to get ahead. We are on the defensive. So far, there are roads that connect our defenders with Vremenny Yar and further with Konstantinovka. And this allows you to send supplies of everything you need to Bakhmut, – the military expert emphasized.

He believes that Bakhmut is not of great military importance, if the team withdraws, we will do it.

“Although an organized withdrawal of troops is an even more complicated operation than an offensive. For this, you also need to prepare in a certain way. Of course, if there is such an order,” Oleksiy Hetman summed up.

What is happening in Bakhmut: briefly

• The occupying troops are struggling to break through the defenses of Ukraine and capture Bakhmut. However, Ukrainian troops hold the key route to and from the city, the Bakhmut-Konstantinovka highway.
• The troops of the invaders, despite the fact that they prevail quantitatively and attack Bakhmut daily, cannot achieve the desired result. The Russians, it seems, were able to secure a sufficient positional advantage for themselves. But this did not force the Ukrainian troops to retreat.
• The British Ministry of Defense reports that Russian mobilized are sent to storm the Ukrainian concrete stronghold near Bakhmut. with “firearms and shovels”.