The Russian occupiers claim to have captured Bakhmut, where heavy fighting has been going on for the past few months. However, the facts and evidence say otherwise.

Satellite images confirm that Russian troops are operating in the vicinity of Bakhmut.

The map below shows the locations controlled by the parties. The enemy claims that the red zones represent confirmed Russian advances, while the yellow zones are claimed by Moscow to be under their control.

However, journalists say that Russian soldiers are indeed in some areas known to be controlled Russia. But visual evidence of the presence of soldiers in areas that Russia claims to control is limited.

Positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the occupiers in Bakhmut/Photo by Sky News

The key question now is whether the Ukrainian defenders will be able to hold the city, as they have been doing all previous months. And also whether the command will order to withdraw from the city in order to prevent the so-called cauldron.

The position of the Ukrainian authorities in relation to Bakhmut

President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the Ukrainian Defense Forces will not move away from Bakhmut and will begin to de-occupy the territory of the East occupied by the Russians. This will happen if our state receives long-range weapons as soon as possible. The head of state stressed that no one would surrender Bakhmut.

We will fight as much as we can. We consider Bakhmut our fortress… If there is an accelerated weapon, namely long-range weapons, we will not only not move away from Bakhmut, we will begin to de-occupy Donbass, occupied since 2014, Zelensky said.

Pay attention! According to the Estonian edition of ERR, Colonel Margo Grosberg, commander of the Intelligence Center of the National Defense Forces, said that by holding Bakhmut, the Ukrainian forces bought time to create new defense lines, so they are likely to leave the city in the near future.

Add that due to the strong resistance of the Ukrainian Defense Forces, the Russian occupation forces have not been able to capture Bakhmut for several months. The terrorist country throws insane forces into the Bakhmut direction and suffers heavy losses. The speaker of the Eastern Group of the Armed Forces, Sergei Cherevaty, said that the daily losses of the invaders there are hundreds.