No end in sight for battle for Bakhmut as Russia's advance stalls

The town in Ukraine's Donetsk enclave has come under heavy shelling in recent weeks

Ukrainian soldiers prepare to fire a cannon near the front line in Bakhmut. Reuters

Russian troops who recently visited Belarus for training are not battle-ready, British intelligence has said, while Moscow is reported to be largely failing in its efforts to capture territory to make up for recent losses to Ukrainian troops.

Despite launching frequent assaults on their opponents, the Russians have, for weeks, failed to take control of the city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk enclave, reducing much of it to ruins in the process.

After Ukrainian forces recaptured the southern city of Kherson in November, the battle for Bakhmut became a focal point in the war — a clear sign of President Vladimir Putin’s desire for visible gains after humiliating setbacks.

Taking Bakhmut would break Ukraine’s supply lines and open up a route for Russian forces to advance towards other towns considered Ukrainian strongholds.

But the UK’s Ministry of Defence has suggested the scenario is unlikely to play out anytime soon.

“Over the last 48 hours, fighting has remained focused around the Bakhmut sector of Donetsk oblast, and near Svatove in Luhansk,” it said on Twitter.

“Russia continues to initiate frequent small-scale assaults in these areas, although little territory has changed hands.

“To the north, elements of Russia’s 1st Guards Tank Army were probably amongst the Russian forces recently deployed to Belarus. This formation was likely conducting training before its deployment and is unlikely to have the support units needed to make it combat-ready.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian troops were slowly “erasing” Russia’s advances amid intense fighting in the east.

“The situation there is difficult, painful,” he said in his nightly address, referring to areas where his troops have been defending Bakhmut and are waging a months-long campaign to retake the town of Kreminna.

Most Russian forces, military equipment and weaponry are concentrated around Bakhmut, but efforts to encircle the town have been unsuccessful, Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar said.

Russia carried out two missile strikes and shelled 44 times from several rocket launchers over the past day, while Kyiv's troops repelled attacks near eight settlements in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk enclaves, Ukraine’s General Staff said on Facebook.

There was renewed hope of peace talks this week when Mr Putin claimed Moscow was ready for discussion.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in an interview with the Associated Press that his country wanted to hold a “peace” summit in February but expressed doubts over whether Russia would participate.

He said Ukraine would hold direct talks with Russia only after the country faces a war-crimes tribunal.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with state news service Tass that Ukraine must comply with Moscow’s demands to surrender in full and concede sovereignty of annexed lands or face continued war.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, described as Europe’s last dictator and a close ally of Mr Putin, is in Moscow for talks this week.

He met the Russian leader on Tuesday on the sidelines of an informal summit of Commonwealth of Independent States at the State Russian Museum in Saint Petersburg.

It was their second meeting in 24 hours to “finalise many issues”, Belarusian state-owned Belta news agency reported.

Ukraine latest — in pictures

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  A building burned from a strike as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Bakhmut. Reuters

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  Antonina, a refugee from Bakhmut in Donetsk region, with dogs she rescued in Izyum, Kharkiv. AFP

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  A resident gives her neighbours hot food brought by volunteers in Izyum. AFP

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  A Ukrainian soldier salutes as he works to build a bunker with sand in Bakhmut. Reuters

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  Volodymyr Kovalov, 77, carries tree branches attached to his bike as he collects wood for heating and cooking in Kherson region. AFP

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  A local resident takes pictures of a destroyed monastery in Dolyna, eastern Ukraine. AFP

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  A decoy dummy made with the clothes of a Russian soldier at the entrance of a destroyed cinema in Kamyanka, eastern Ukraine. AFP

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  Destroyed houses in the city of Kamyanka. AFP

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  Caesar, 50, a Russian who joined the Freedom of Russia Legion to fight on the side of Ukraine, stands in front of a destroyed monastery in Dolyna. AFP

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  An employee stands next to a shelter at a stainless pipes plant in Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk region. AFP

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  Ivan and Iryna Kalinin before the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Iryna, who was pregnant, was killed in a Russian air strike on Mariupol's maternity hospital. Ivan returned to the occupied city to rebury his wife and baby. AP

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  Natalia, 67, sits inside her house that was damaged in a Russian military strike, in Kramatorsk, Ukraine. Reuters

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  Ukrainian soldiers ride in a military vehicle in Bakhmut, a city in the Donetsk enclave. AP

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  Smoke billows from a building on fire after a Russian attack in Bakhmut. AP

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  Sasha and her grandfather stand outside their home in Bakhmut. AP

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  Ukrainian soldiers set up a barricade in Bakhmut. AP

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  Nastya carries her cat as her mother Anna says goodbye to neighbours with whom they lived for months in a basement during Russian attacks in Soledar, a city in the Donetsk enclave of Ukraine. AP

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  Anna and Nastya in the basement during a Russian attack nearby. AP

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  A Ukrainian soldier is wheeled on a stretcher at a hospital in the Donetsk enclave. AP

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  A woman looks a building damaged by Russian shelling in Kherson. AFP

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  Oleksandra Koshkina, 85, sits in a car as she returns to her village of Torske, in the Donetsk enclave. Reuters

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  A resident of Bakhmut walks along an empty street. Reuters

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  A street market in Bakhmut. Reuters

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  A Ukrainian soldier poses for a picture in the Donetsk enclave. Reuters

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  Officials tend to a patient on a plane carrying Ukrainian Jewish refugees as they wait to disembark at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv. AFP

The agency quoted Mr Putin as saying: “Although we keep in touch all the time, some issues emerge every now and then, so we need to deal with them and take the necessary decisions to address them in a more efficient way.”

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Armed Forces claimed the Russian Army had suffered the loss of a further 620 servicemen killed between December 24 and 27. This would bring the total Russian losses to 103,220.

“[The] Russian enemy suffered the greatest losses [of the past day] at the Bakhmut and Lyman directions,” the Ukrainian Armed Forces said on social media.

Three soldiers were reported dead on Monday in a drone explosion at a Russian airbase.

They were hit by falling debris after a Ukrainian drone was shot down, pro-Kremlin media said, citing the Russian Defence Ministry.