MOSCOW: A Ukrainian military official claimed on Saturday that more than 500 Russian soldiers were killed or injured in the last 24 hours during the fight for the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. Reuters reported that pro-Russia forces have been fighting for months to take control of Bakhmut, in the eastern Donbas. The two sides admit to losses but the exact numbers are very difficult to verify.
Official says Russia had launched 16 attacks
Serhiy Cherevaty, a military spokesperson in the east, said the Russian troops had launched sixteen attacks during the last 24 hours, with 23 clashes occurring in Bakhmut. He claimed that more than “221 enemies were killed and 314 injured. According to Reuters, it was not able to immediately verify the claim of the spokesperson.
An advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that they had decided to fight on in Bakhmut as the battle is crushing down Russia’s best units.
Russia says capturing Bakhmut would punch a hole in Ukraine’s defenses and be a step toward seizing all the Donbas industrial area, a major goal. Since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine started in February 2022, tens of thousands have been killed, millions displaced and several Ukrainian cities and towns pulverized.
