Nicolas Tonev 19:36 pm, May 21, 2023

Since Saturday, confusion has reigned over whether or not to take the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut by Russia. Moscow claims to control the whole of this locality, which Kiev denies after having confirmed, in an ambiguous way, the loss of this city.

It's hard to know which breast to devote yourself to. For a little more than 24 hours, the uncertainty persists as to whether or not the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut will be taken by Russian troops. Announced this Saturday by Russia, it was first confirmed ambiguously by Kiev before the entourage of President Volodymyr Zelensky denies. A rather singular situation in which both parties can potentially tell the truth.

For Moscow, the capture of Bakhmut is certainly total from a territorial point of view. But to the extent that, via the north and south, Ukrainian forces are advancing, it is also possible to say that nothing is being done. This explains President Zelensky's ambiguities.

Russian soldiers under threat of Ukrainian fire

Moreover, for a soldier, a city capture is only successful from the moment it is outdated and secured. Which, in this case, is far from being recorded. Bakhmut is located in a basin, dominated by hills fortified by the Ukrainians, with large reinforcements of trenches and bunkers.

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The Russian soldiers who are currently in the city and who have seized it are therefore permanently under the threat of Ukrainian fire. Their situation remains extremely fragile and the losses in men are monstrous. For the time being, it is impossible to identify the resources Moscow has to keep Bakhmut. Enough to allow Volodymyr Zelensky to play on words and on the situation especially since, for the Ukrainians, the main thing is to continue the fighting and prevent the opponent from leaving the area and taking the road to Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, the regional capital.