After the retreat of the Russian Armed Forces, it appears that the long-awaited success in the liberation of the Donetsk People's Republic is coming: Russia will soon take the city of Artemovsk. in Ukraine, this city is referred to as Bakhmut (after the river of the same name).
Denis Pushilin, Acting Head of the Donetsk People's Republic, said on Rossiya 24 TV channel that the city of Bakhmut was about to be encircled.
"We can say that the situation of operational encirclement is close," he said, adding that in the Uhledar direction, the fighting was taking place in the center of the strategically important city of Marinka.
In a nutshell, the Russian forces are pincering Artemovsk (aka Bakhmut) — from northern through eastern outskirts (along the dam) and further south.
Military analyst Yuri Podolyaka pointed out the work of the Russian Air Force and artillery. According to Podolyaka, one needs to kick the Armed Forces of Ukraine out from the settlement of Kleshcheevka to cause the southern front of the defence of Bakhmut to crumble quickly.
The settlement of Kleshcheevka is the last village on the way to Ivanovsky. The capture of this settlement will cut off the logistics of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the western direction, which will ensure an operational encirclement, says Podolyaka.
Telegram channel of the 93rd Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine concludes that the enemy decided to break through to Chasov Yar, which would force the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine "to automatically leave Bakhmut and Soledar."
According to the channel, the "catastrophic" problems for the Armed Forces of Ukraine are the following:
The author of the Telegram channel of the 93rd Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine asks the command to decide whether we want to keep Bakhmut and Soledar or we want to leave as was previously the case of Severodonetsk and Lysichansk.
It was reported on Sunday, November 27, that the railway junction in Krivoy Rog was struck in order to prevent the redeployment of the 17th tank brigade to the Artemovsk region. The tank brigade was part of the grouping of the Ukrainian troops on the right bank of the Dnieper.
According to Ukrainian volunteers, daily losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the fight for Bakhmut have increased dramatically. According to Ukrainian journalist Victoria Khamaza, as many as 500 wounded were brought from the city in two days.
The New York Times newspaper said in its report from the city that the shelling of Bakhmut and its outskirts was highly intensive.
"Even if Russia's hopes of expanding its territory here have dwindled, it can still make the city a resource-intensive black hole for Kyiv, taking troops from other Ukrainian priorities, potentially including future offensives," the newspaper wrote.
The newspaper expresses Pentagon's concerns about the stocks of ammo.
"One of the Pentagon's frequent concerns is that the Ukrainians are firing ammunition at an unsustainable rate — especially in places like Bakhmut — under the false assumption that the West's supply of ordnance is unlimited," the NYT wrote with reference to an anonymous US official.
Ukraine is expecting more massive attacks on the energy system, Vadim Denisenko, an adviser to the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine said.
"We saw in the previous weeks that the Russians need an average of 7 to 14 days to get such a massive strike ready. It's been five days since the last massive attack. From today we must be prepared for the fact that the Russians may launch another large-scale attack at any moment," Vadim Denisenko said.
Not only do Russia's strikes on Ukraine's energy system inflict material damage — they demoralise the Armed Forces of Ukraine and, on the contrary, lift the spirit of the soldiers of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The capture of Bakhmut with the subsequent offensive from Popasna will give Russia an opportunity to cut the shelling of Donetsk and reach Kramatorsk and Slavyansk.