Bakhmut - The African Mirror

Jul

2023

What does the Wagner Group do? Operations in Africa and the rest of the world explained

THE abortive mutiny by Russia's Wagner group last week calls into question the fate of the group's wide network of military and commercial operations across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. This factbox shows what Wagner is doing and where. UKRAINE Wagner deployed in Ukraine soon after the invasion began early last year and by the summer it was enlisting thousands of prisoners to fight for it on the front lines. By December, as it took a central role in the battle for Bakhmut, U.S. intelligence estimated it had 40,000 prisoner recruits fighting in Ukraine, though Wagner itself has not commented on…

Jun

2023

By The African Mirror

Ukraine says Russia taking heavy losses in south, resisting near Bakhmut

WORLD

ADVANCING Ukrainian troops are facing "desperate resistance" from Russian forces around the eastern city of Bakhmut, and are inflicting big losses on Russian troops in the south, Ukrainian military chiefs said. Reuters could not verify the battlefield situation. Russia has not officially acknowledged Ukrainian advances in the early stages of a counteroffensive and said it had inflicted heavy losses on Kyiv's forces in the previous 24 hours. Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, who is in charge of Ukrainian ground forces, said the situation in the east was tense and Russia was bringing its best divisions into the Bakhmut sector with backup from artillery…

May

2023

By DAN PELESCHUK and JEFF MASON

At G7, Zelenskiy says Bakhmut destruction has echoes of Hiroshima

WORLD

UKRAINE'S Volodymyr Zelenskiy drew a parallel between the destruction of Bakhmut and the horror of Hiroshima, evoking the symbolism of mass destruction as he wrapped up a surprise appearance at the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Japan. The Ukrainian president's arrival in Hiroshima on Saturday afternoon on a French government plane marked a dramatic turn as U.S. President Joe Biden and other leaders strengthened their call for Moscow to end its invasion, announcing new sanctions and increased military assistance. In one of its most strongly worded messages on China, the G7 communique took aim at Beijing over "economic coercion" and said…

May

2023

By FELIX LIGHT, CALEB DAVIS and ANDREW OSBORN

Russian mercenary chief says fighters to leave Ukraine’s Bakhmut to ‘lick wounds’

WORLD

YEVGENY Prigozhin, leader of Russia's Wagner Group mercenary force, said in a dramatic announcement on Friday that his forces would pull out of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut that they have been trying to capture since last summer. Prigozhin said they would withdraw on May 10 - ending their involvement in the longest and bloodiest battle of the war - because of heavy losses and inadequate ammunition supplies. He asked defence chiefs to insert regular army troops in their place. "I declare on behalf of the Wagner fighters, on behalf of the Wagner command, that on May 10, 2023, we…

May

2023

By LIDIA KELLY

Ukraine says it controls key supply route into Bakhmut

WORLD

UKRAINE remains in control of a critical supply route into Bakhmut, a military spokesperson said on Saturday, as the head of Russia's mercenary Wagner Group threatened to withdraw some of his troops from the eastern city if Moscow did not send more ammunition. Russian forces have been trying for 10 months to punch their way into the shattered remains of what was once a city of 70,000. Kyiv has pledged to defend Bakhmut, which Russia sees as a stepping stone to attack other cities. "For several weeks, the Russians have been talking about seizing the 'road of life,' as well…

Apr

2023

By The African Mirror

Putin visits two regions in Ukraine, Russia presses assault on Bakhmut

WORLD

DAN PELESCHUK and GUY FAULCONBRIDGE RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin has met his commanders in two regions of Ukraine that Moscow claims to have annexed, while Russian forces stepped up heavy artillery bombardments and air strikes on the devastated Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, meanwhile, visited troops in the eastern town of Avdiivka, about 70 km (43 miles) southwest of Bakhmut, and was briefed on the battlefield situation, his office said. The Kremlin said Putin on Monday had attended a military command meeting in Ukraine's southern Kherson region and visited a national guard headquarters in eastern Luhansk. Putin heard reports from…

Apr

2023

By The African Mirror

Ukraine reports unprecedentedly bloody fighting in Bakhmut

WORLD

UKRAINIAN and Russian armed forces are fighting extraordinarily bloody battles in the smashed eastern city of Bakhmut, but pro-Kyiv forces are still holding on, Ukraine's military said on Saturday. Russia's defence ministry said earlier in the day that fighters from the Wagner mercenary group had captured two more areas of Bakhmut, the main target of Moscow's offensive in eastern Ukraine. Wagner has spearheaded Russia's attempt to take Bakhmut since last summer in what has been the longest and deadliest battle of the war for both sides. "Bloody battles unprecedented in recent decades are taking place in the middle of the…

Apr

2023

By The African Mirror

Ukraine reports unrelenting Russian attacks on key city of Bakhmut

WORLD

RUSSIA'S military pressed on with unrelenting attacks on the smashed eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut and also shelled the southern city of Kherson, officials in Kyiv said. The Kremlin sees Bakhmut as pivotal in its slow-moving advance through eastern Ukraine more than a year after it invaded its neighbour. Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar, writing on Telegram, said heavy fighting gripped all parts of the eastern front. She said pro-Kyiv forces repelled attacks in most areas. "Most of the enemy's offensive efforts are occurring in the Bakhmut sector," she wrote, adding that Russian commanders had redirected troops there from…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

UK says Ukraine forces under increasingly severe pressure defending Bakhmut

WORLD

UKRAINIAN forces defending Bakhmut are facing increasingly strong pressure from Russian forces, British military intelligence said, with intense fighting taking place in and around the eastern city. Ukraine is reinforcing the area with elite units, while the regular Russian army and forces of the private military Wagner group have made further advances into Bakhmut's northern suburbs, the British Defence Ministry said in its daily intelligence bulletin. The Ukraine armed forces' general staff said in a Facebook post late on Saturday that Russian troops were trying but failing to surround Bakhmut, adding defenders had repelled numerous attacks in and around the…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

Russia close to encircling Ukraine’s Bakhmut after months of fighting

WORLD

LEONARDO BENNASATTO and LISI NIESNER RUSSIAN artillery pounded the last routes out of Bakhmut, aiming to complete the encirclement of the besieged Ukrainian city and bring Moscow closer to its first major victory in half a year after the bloodiest battle of the war. The head of Russia's Wagner private army said the city, which has been blasted to ruins in Russia's more than seven-month onslaught, was almost completely surrounded with only one road still open for Ukraine's troops. Reuters observed intense Russian shelling of routes leading west out of Bakhmut, an apparent attempt to block Ukrainian forces' access in…