Ukrainian forces appear to be edging closer to the fiercely contested eastern city of Bakhmut amid claims of heavy fighting to the south and west.
Three months after Russia claimed victory in a months-long and bloody battle for the devastated city, Ukraine’s troops were reported to have taken the village of Andriivka this week and to be advancing around the village of Klishchiivka, about four miles to the south, occupying important high ground and forests nearby.
Ukraine is attempting a partial encirclement of Bakhmut, pushing from the north and south to threaten Russian forces within.
A senior Ukrainian official said every available weapons system was being used in the battles, including recently supplied US cluster munitions.
The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based thinktank, described the claimed Ukrainian gains as “tactically significant” and some Russian military bloggers appeared to confirm Ukraine’s progress.
The advance, if confirmed, would bring Ukraine’s forces closer to the important T053 highway, the north-south route that runs through the city.
“The enemy managed to occupy [Klishchiivka’s] adjacent heights from where he deployed fire from anti-tank systems and sniper groups to support their advancing infantry and equipment,” one Russian military blogger reported. “Heavy battles have been going on for several days and enemy reconnaissance and strike drones have an important influence on the development of the situation.”
Andriy Kovaliov, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian armed forces general staff, said troops had advanced in the direction of the village of Staromayorske, in the Donetsk region, near settlements recaptured by Ukraine last month.
The Ukrainian troops were reinforcing the positions they had taken and Russian forces were mounting strong resistance, he said.
Around Andriivka, which had been used as a logistics hub by Russian forces, Russia deployed tanks and armoured vehicles to attempt to clear the treeline of Ukrainian forces, but apparently without sufficient infantry support, leading to significant losses of vehicles targeted by drones. There were claims of a Russian withdrawal from the settlement.
The continuing fighting for Bakhmut, where there has been continuous combat since early last summer, has underlined Russia’s fragile hold on the city and surrounding countryside since it emerged as an objective as its advance towards the eastern cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk faltered.
Throwing large numbers of troops into the fighting, spearheaded by forces from the private Wagner paramilitary, Moscow claimed a tentative victory in May after taking heavy losses in the efforts to take Bakhmut, with Ukrainian officials saying their tactics of defence had been designed to wear down Russian forces.
Russia has intensified its attacks farther north in the area of Kreminna and Lyman, which analysts believe may be designed to relieve pressure to the south by drawing troops to that sector.
Since Kyiv launched its counteroffensive across the country this summer, officials have insisted they have been advancing carefully to limit Ukrainian casualties. The deputy defence minister Hanna Malyar claimed earlier this week that Russian forces were sustaining losses at a significantly higher rate in the eastern battles. This may be explained by the heavy use of US-supplied cluster munitions in the recent fighting as Russia initially attempted to bring forward reserves.
The slow pace of Ukraine’s gains eight weeks into its counteroffensive has prompted some scepticism over whether Kyiv will be able to achieve a breakthrough as it has confronted Russia’s well-prepared defences, including barrier minefieldsthat are 10 miles deep in places.
Since the decision by Washington to agree to supply Ukraine with cluster munitions – despite them being banned by a majority of countries – Ukraine has begun using the weapons more heavily against Russia’s defensive positions.