WESTERN PERSPECTIVE
Ukraine forces defending Bakhmut under increasingly severe pressure
Ukrainian forces defending Bakhmut are facing increasingly strong pressure from Russian forces, British military intelligence said on Saturday, with intense fighting taking place in and around the eastern city.
Ukraine is reinforcing the area with elite units, while regular Russian army and forces of the private military Wagner group have made further advances into Bakhmut's northern suburbs, the British Defence Ministry said in its daily intelligence bulletin.
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The Ukraine armed forces' general staff said in a Facebook post late on Saturday that Russian troops were trying but failing to surround Bakhmut, adding defenders had repelled numerous attacks in and around the city.
The battle has raged for seven months. A Russian victory in the city, which had a pre-war population of about 70,000 and has been blasted to ruins in the onslaught, would give Moscow the first major prize in a costly winter offensive.
Oleh Zhdanov, a prominent Ukrainian analyst of military affairs, said late on Saturday that he could not detect any immediate signs Kyiv was going to order a retreat from the city.
"At the moment the situation is more or less stabilized. In terms of the advancement of Russian troops, we practically stopped (it)," he said in a YouTube interview.
The British defence ministry said two key bridges in Bakhmut have been destroyed within the last 36 hours, adding that Ukrainian-held resupply routes out of the city are increasingly limited.
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One of those bridges connected Bakhmut to the city's last main supply route from the Ukrainian-held town of Chasiv Yar, about 13 km (eight miles) to the west, it said.
Russian artillery pounded the last routes out of Bakhmut on Friday, aiming to complete the encirclement of the besieged city and bring Moscow closer to its first major victory in the war in six months.
The Ukrainian general staff also said Russian attacks had been foiled in the villages of Vasyukivka, Orikhovo-Vasylivka, Dubovo-Vasylivka and Hryhorivka, all of which lie just to the north of Bakhmut's city centre.
Russia says Bakhmut would be a stepping stone to completing the capture of the Donbas industrial region, one of Moscow's most important objectives.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who has described Bakhmut as a "fortress", on Saturday thanked defenders in the city in a video message but gave no details of the fighting.
** Russia's Wagner boss publishes video showing coffins of dead Ukrainian troops being shipped home
Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of Russia's Wagner Group mercenary force, published a video on Saturday showing what he said were coffins containing bodies of Ukrainian soldiers being repatriated to territory held by Kyiv.
In the video, Prigozhin, clad in full military gear, said: "We are sending another shipment of Ukrainian army fighters home. They fought bravely, and perished. That's why the latest truck will take them back to their motherland."
The footage shows men in uniform nailing wooden coffins shut and loading them onto a truck.
Prigozhin, whose Wagner Group has spearheaded Russia's months-long assault on the eastern city of Bakhmut, has repeatedly praised the Ukrainian army as a worthy and capable adversary.
On New Year's Eve, a media outlet linked to Prigozhin published footage of the Wagner boss visiting Ukrainian prisoners of war with a traditional gift of mandarins, and promising to return them to Ukraine via a prisoner swap as soon as possible.
RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE
Trump vows to end Ukraine conflict in 24 hours
President Joe Biden is leading the United States “into oblivion,” Donald Trump told the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland on Saturday, promising to stop wasting US taxpayer money on “stupid” foreign wars as he rallies support for a potential political comeback in 2024.
“I was the only president in decades that didn't have a war,” Trump said in his nearly two-hour long speech at the annual conservative gathering at Gaylord National Resort, claiming that if he was in office right now, “Ukraine would have been thriving, there would have been no dead people, no obliterated cities that can never be rebuilt.”
Last month, Trump promised to immediately call Moscow and Kiev, if re-elected, insisting he knows exactly what to tell Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky to stop the conflict.
“I know what to say,” he reiterated on Saturday. “Before I arrive in the Oval Office, I will have the disastrous war between Russia and Ukraine ended… I will get the problem solved and I will get it solved in rapid order and it will take me no longer than one day.”
At the same time, Trump blasted Biden for wasting billions of US taxpayer dollars instead of forcing Washington’s European allies to bankroll Kiev.
“Is NATO putting up dollar for dollar with us?” he said. “We put up $140 billion and they put up just a tiny fraction of that. And you know, we all want to see success, but it's far more important to them than it is to us because of that location.”
“We are never going back to a party that wants to give unlimited money to fight foreign wars that are endless wars, that are stupid,” Trump proclaimed.
Trump warned Americans that they are facing the “most dangerous time in our country’s history, and Joe Biden is leading us into oblivion,” claiming that the world will soon plunge into WWIII unless “something doesn’t happen fast.”
“I am the only candidate who can make this promise: I will prevent world war three,” he said.
In recent months, Trump has repeatedly called for the US to lead the way in negotiating a peace settlement in Ukraine, while blasting the way Biden has handled the conflict. He also condemned the US’ promise to send M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, saying the move could bring about a nuclear war – as Moscow continues to insist that arms shipments make the West a direct party to the hostilities.
** Ex-Russian president warns against German tank plant plan for Ukraine
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has promised “fireworks” should a proposed German tank plant be constructed in Ukraine. Plans to build a factory were announced by the CEO of arms giant Rheinmetall, Armin Papperger, in an interview with the newspaper Rheinische Post published on Saturday.
The company is in talks with Kiev over establishing the €200 million (around $212 million) tank plant, according to the Rheinmetall boss.
“A Rheinmetall plant can be set up in Ukraine for around €200 million, which can produce up to 400 Panthers a year,” Papperger stated, referring to the company’s latest Panther KF51 tank unveiled last June. This type of tank is based on Germany’s Leopard 2 main battle tanks, but boasts a larger 130mm gun that is fitted with a fully automated loading system.
“Talks with the Ukrainian government are promising and I hope for a final solution in the next two months,” Papperger said.
The announcement was met with skepticism by the ex-Russian leader, who said in a Telegram post that it looked like an example of “primitive trolling.” Medvedev warned that should the “supposedly pragmatic” Germans actually decide to build the facility, it would inevitably become a target for Russia and be subjected to missile strikes.
“This event will be properly marked by Kalibr fireworks and other pyrotechnical devices,” Medvedev wrote.
Germany, one of Kiev's top supporters in its ongoing conflict with Moscow, gave in to Ukraine’s repeated demands to send it modern main battle tanks in late January. The government pledged to deliver at least 14 Leopard 2 tanks from the Bundeswehr’s inventory and also agreed to allow other operators of the German-made armor to do the same.
Rheinmetall, a top German arms contractor, has separately pledged to deliver a number of older Leopard 1 tanks to Kiev as well, procuring 88 retired vehicles from Italy. Back in February, Papperger said the tanks needed to be rebuilt completely before they can be sent to Kiev, with only up to 25 Leopards expected to make it to Ukraine this year.
Moscow has repeatedly urged the collective West against “pumping” Ukraine with assorted weaponry, warning that the continuous support of Kiev will only prolong the hostilities and the suffering of ordinary Ukrainians rather than change the ultimate outcome of the conflict.
Reuters/RT
