Street Fighting in Bakhmut But Russia Not in Control

Russian and Ukrainian forces are fighting in the streets of Bakhmut – but Russia does not control the eastern city, its deputy mayor has said.

Oleksandr Marchenko says the remaining 4,000 civilians are living in shelters without access to gas, electricity or water. Reports said.

Mr Marchenko said “not a single building” had remained untouched and that the city is “almost destroyed“,

Bakhmut has seen months of fighting, as Russia tries to take charge.

“There is fighting near the city and there are also street fights,” Mr Marchenko said.

Taking the city would be a rare battlefield success in recent months for Russia.

But despite that, the city’s strategic value has been questioned. Some experts say any Russian victory could be pyrrhic – that is, not worth the cost.

Thousands of Russian troops have died trying to take Bakhmut, which had a pre-war population of around 75,000. Ukrainian commanders estimate that Russia has lost seven times as many soldiers as they have.

Now, after fierce shelling, Russian forces and troops from the Wagner private army appear to have surrounded much of Bakhmut.

On Saturday, UK military intelligence said “Russian advances in the northern suburbs have left the Ukraine-held section of the city vulnerable to Russian attacks on three sides.”

Mr Marchenko accused the Russians of having “no goal” to save the city and that it wanted to commit “genocide of the Ukrainian people.”

“Currently there is no communication in the city so the city is cut out, the bridges are destroyed and the tactics the Russians are using is the tactic of parched land,” Mr Marchenko told the Today programme.

The Institute for the Study of War said the Ukrainian army had blown up bridges in Bakhmut, which might indicate they are “seeking to inhibit Russian movement” as they make a “controlled fighting withdrawal.”

Earlier this week, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the situation in the area was becoming “more and more difficult” – although the Ukrainian military said it had repelled numerous attacks since Friday.

BBC /Shakirat Sadiq