Kiev announces the destruction of entire units of Wagner's troops. Moscow destroys strategic points of Ukraine in Zaporizhia

Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Anna Malia said her country's army had destroyed entire units of Russia's Wagner militia in the besieged city of Bakhmut, as CIA Director William Burns said Ukrainian progress on the battlefield would determine diplomacy's chances.

"The enemy has focused its main efforts in Pakhmot, and in return we must focus our efforts to repel enemy attacks. If we had not pushed troops to Bakhomot, the Russians would have advanced deep into our territory."

"The occupiers continue to try to take full control of the city, and since the Ukrainian armed forces have already destroyed a large number of Wagner mercenaries, the enemy has been forced to bring in paratroopers and special forces," she said.

She likened the situation in Bakhmout due to Russian bombardment to the Syrian city of Aleppo, saying, "The enemy usually loses in street battles, so the Russians destroy all buildings."

On Tuesday, Wagner Group commander Yevgeny Prigozhine said in a video that his forces now control more than 80 percent of the city of Bakhmut.

In the clip, posted on Telegram by a Russian military blogger, Prigozhin is seen showing a map of the area revealing the continued siege by his forces of the currently destroyed city, which before the Russian offensive inhabited about 70,<> people.

"The bulk of Pakhmot, more than 80 percent of it is now under our control, including the entire administrative center, factories, warehouses and city management," Prigozhin said.

Using a red pen to identify a relatively small area, mostly residential neighborhoods in the city not yet captured by Russian forces, he said: "The war continues here."

Wagner fighters have been leading Russia's months-long effort to capture Bakhmaut, in one of the bloodiest battles since the Ukraine war began 13 months ago.

Attacks and rocket shelling

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian General Staff announced that its forces repelled more than 50 attacks on the fighting axes in eastern Ukraine, 20 of them towards Bakhmout, noting that Russian forces carried out a failed attempt to attack the town of Bagdanivka, northwest of Bakhmout, in addition to the exposure of several towns in the vicinity of the region and in both Liman, Kobyansk, Avdievka and Marinka to missile and artillery shelling.

On the other hand, the commission announced the implementation of 13 air strikes targeting positions of Russian forces, 4 missile attacks on sites containing weapons and equipment, and the downing of two Orlan-10 drones.

In Kherson, the Ukrainian military administration said that the Russians have shelled the territory of the province over the past hours more than 30 times, targeting residential neighborhoods, power lines and the port area.

In Zaporizhia, the military administration confirmed that the Russians targeted dozens of villages along the lines of contact between Ukrainian and Russian forces and hit infrastructure sites in the province.

The Russian military said it destroyed two strategic Ukrainian army posts in the province on Wednesday morning, killing about 10 militants.

Alexander Gordeev, head of the press center of the Russian army's Vostok troop group, said air surveillance had spotted two strategic points in the Golay-Pol and Lugovsko regions, and that artillery had destroyed them.

Also on Zaporizhia, British military intelligence said that Russia had established three defensive lines in the region in anticipation of a Ukrainian attack.

British intelligence reported in its daily tweets about the course of the Ukrainian war that Russian forces have established 3 levels of defensive lines 120 kilometers away in the Zaporizhia region, with the aim of hindering any future Ukrainian attack on the city of Melitovol.

The military administration in Mykolaiv confirmed that Russian forces targeted water areas in the southern province, especially in Ochakov and Kastrop.

On the other hand, the Ukrainian army confirmed the continuation of its air force in bombing the gathering sites of Russian forces inside Ukrainian territory, shooting down two drones, and Ukrainian artillery also bombarded areas for the assembly of the Russian army and two wireless electronic warfare stations used by Russian forces.

Toward the southern direction of the Donetsk region, the Russian military said it had repelled a Ukrainian missile strike and shot down two Himars using the S-300 and Buk systems.

Diplomacy Opportunities

Meanwhile, the CIA director said his agency's assessment was that Russian President Vladimir Putin was not ready for negotiations on Ukraine now, and that it was likely Ukraine's progress on the battlefield that would determine the chances of diplomacy.

"The Russian president has bet on the right of the Ukrainians and the attrition of the West, and in this he is wrong. Ukrainians are still defending Pakhmut, Donbass and the east of the country. The Ukrainian military is preparing for an offensive in the spring with significant military and intelligence support from the United States and its partners."

"I hope to be convinced of the opportunity for negotiations that will end with a just peace. But our assessment is that Putin is not serious about any negotiation right now. It is Ukraine's progress on the ground that will likely shape the prospects for a diplomatic solution."