The Russians boasted that they controlled the eastern part of the city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region. However, such statements by the occupiers do not correspond to reality.
Andrey Kramarov, a military expert, told Channel 24 about this. According to him, the invaders are trying to present their access to the eastern part of the city as a “great achievement.”
Kramarov stressed that in fact the Russian invaders had not established any control anywhere in Bakhmut.
“The eastern part of the city is a zone of active warfare, which it has been for 2 months,” the military expert said.
Why did the invaders manage to enter the eastern part of Bakhmut
According to him, Russian troops were able to penetrate the eastern outskirts of Bakhmut for only one reason.
After 2 months of heavy fighting, the eastern part of Bakhmut now resembles a picture in Maryinka. Buildings are completely destroyed there and there are no places where firing points or any fortifications could be placed, – Kramarov explained.
However, the Russians cannot move further. A natural obstacle arose on their way – the Bakhmutko River.
“Any river is a fairly significant obstacle, especially for assault operations and for the passage of equipment. Since this is a zone of direct fire contact, the occupiers have no chance to build a pontoon crossing there ,” the military expert said.
Andrey Kramarov spoke about the situation in Bakhmut: watch the video
What will happen if the Armed Forces leave the city
A number of military analysts believe that the Armed Forces of Ukraine will have to leave Bakhmut in the event of a threat of complete encirclement.
According to Kramarov, if the Ukrainian defenders move away from the city, then the next big obstacle for the invaders will be the hills on which the city of Chasov Yar is located.
Now our artillery is located there, which keeps the city of Bakhmut under fire control. That is, even if we go beyond the administrative outskirts of Bakhmut, then the battle for this line will not end there, – the military expert emphasized.
He added that Ukrainian artillery will actively destroy enemy troops in Bakhmut. Moreover, the Russians threw their combat-ready units – airborne assault troops – into this sector of the front.
“There is now all the best that the Russian army has. This also applies to equipment,” Kramarov said.
The Russians have big problems with technology
As a military expert said, now the Russians at Bakhmut are actively using – and, accordingly, they are also losing – T-80BV tanks.
Considering that there are almost no T-90 tanks left in Russia today, it is the T-80 that the occupiers are now the most modern tank. When they run out of T-80BVs, they could switch to T-72s. But they also have a very bad situation with these tanks,” Kramarov said.
According to him, when these tanks run out in Russia, the “newest” Soviet T-62s with “active” armor, which destroys the tank itself when detonated, will be used.
The situation in Bakhmut: briefly
- Military expert, Colonel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the reserve Roman Svitan said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as of March 8, 2023, managed to push the invaders to the right bank of the Bakhmutka River. Ukrainian defenders are not ready to give up.
- NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at a meeting of EU defense ministers in Stockholm on March 8 said that the Ukrainian defense of Bakhmut could fall in the coming days. However, this will not necessarily be a turning point in the war.
- Deputy Defense Minister Anna Malyar noted that forecasting military actions is a thankless task. Malyar stressed that the battles in Bakhmut exhaust the enemy and urged to trust only the military.
