All roads leading into the strategic town of Bakhmut are now under Russian control, Moscow’s military officials asserted this week.
The scene of fierce fighting for the past several months, Bakhmut is a key transport hub for Ukrainian forces deployed in the eastern Donetsk region.
“Bakhmut [Artyomovsk in Russian] has been encircled,” Yan Gagin, an adviser to the head of the Moscow-recognized Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), told Russia’s TASS news agency on Feb. 27.
“Our forces control the roads leading into the city,” he said.
According to Gagin, ammunition supplies to Ukrainian forces inside Bakhmut—along with troop reinforcements—have now been choked off due to recent Russian advances.
On Feb. 28, Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukrainian ground forces, conceded that fighting in and around Bakhmut was “extremely tense.”
Speaking on a military messaging app Syrskyi, who reportedly visited Bakhmut over the weekend, said Russian forces “are trying to break through our defenses … and surround the city.”
Military officials in Kyiv say Russia has bolstered its troop strength near Bakhmut and has stepped up artillery attacks on the city’s outskirts.
Last September, Moscow mobilized 300,000 fresh army reservists, many of which are now being deployed to the front in Donetsk and the neighboring Luhansk region.
Key Objective
Last month, Russian forces overran the town of Soledar, located five miles northeast of Bakhmut. Since then, Russia claims to have taken more key positions, including the settlements of Paraskoviivka and Berkhivka.The fall of Bakhmut will likely pave the way for a Russian advance to the northwest aimed at bringing all of Donetsk under Moscow’s control.
Donetsk and Luhansk together comprise the Russian-speaking Donbas region. Since Russia invaded Ukraine more than one year ago, the capture of Donbas—in its entirety—has remained a key objective.
On Feb. 26, DPR head Denis Pushilin claimed that Russian forces were now advancing northwest of Bakhmut. “Positive news is expected in this direction shortly,” he was quoted as saying by TASS.
The Epoch Times could not verify Pushilin’s assertions.
After holding controversial referendums last September, Russia unilaterally annexed Donetsk, Luhansk, and the southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
Ukraine and its allies reject the move, which they say amounts to an illegal land grab. Encouraged—and armed—by its Western backers, Kyiv has vowed to continue fighting until all four regions are recovered.
On Feb. 27, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not rule out a negotiated settlement of the conflict but said Kyiv must recognize what he called “new territorial realities.”
Banned Toxic Materials
In a related development, the Russian Defense Ministry has accused the United States of planning to stage a “provocation” in Donetsk using banned toxic materials.On Feb. 28, Igor Kirillov, head of the ministry’s Radiological, Biological, and Chemical Protection Unit, alleged that two large consignments of toxic materials had arrived by rail—on Feb. 10 and 19—to the city of Kramatorsk.
Located in northern Donetsk, Kramatorsk is currently under the control of Ukrainian forces.
According to Kirillov, at least one of the two consignments was accompanied by several “foreign nationals.”
Speaking to reporters in Moscow, Kirillov claimed the consignments were later transported to areas near the frontline on American-made armored vehicles.
The alleged activities, he said, indicated that Kyiv—with U.S. help—was planning to stage a “large-scale provocation” using internationally-banned toxic materials.
As of the time of writing, U.S. officials had not yet responded to Kirillov’s allegations.
‘Secret Biological Laboratories’
The Epoch Times has sent a request for comment to the U.S. State Department.Russian officials have made similar allegations in the past.
Since the conflict began early last year, Moscow has repeatedly accused the United States of running clandestine biological weapons programs on Ukrainian territory.
In a Feb. 21 address to Russia’s Federal Assembly, President Vladimir Putin alleged that the United States and NATO had operated “secret biological laboratories near Russian borders.”
Last month, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed that its troops deployed in Ukraine had found thousands of documents pertaining to covert U.S. biological research programs.
U.S. officials have consistently denied the allegations, calling them “textbook examples” of “Russian disinformation.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
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