KYIV, Ukraine: Ukraine controls only a third of the embattled eastern city of Bakhmut, which has seen the longest battle of the Russian invasion, an adviser to Ukraine´s presidency said on Thursday.
“Bakhmut is one-third controlled by Ukraine, as international observers have established,” Sergiy Leshchenko said in a briefing broadcast by the presidency´s Telegram channel. He denied however that the city was surrounded by Russian forces despite recent claims from a Russian aide in the Donetsk region, where Bakhmut is located, that it was “practically surrounded”.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner paramilitary group spearheading Russia´s assault in eastern Ukraine, said last week that his forces were in control of around 70 percent of the city. Bakhmut -- which once had an estimated population of around 70,000 people -- has been virtually emptied of civilians over months of fierce fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces. Kyiv says Bakhmut is key to holding back Russian forces along the entire eastern front.
Both sides have invested heavily in the fight, even though analysts say the city has little strategic value. The US-based Institute for the Study of War said that Russian forces controlled “roughly 65 percent” of Bakhmut.
JERUSALEM: Three Israeli soldiers and a member of Egypt’s security forces were killed Saturday in a rare exchange...
NEW DELHI: The Indian government has banned 14 types of fixed-dose combination (FDC) medicines due to a lack of...
ANKARA: Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan was sworn in for a third term as president on Saturday, promising to serve...
DAKAR: Tensions remained high in Senegal on Saturday after fresh overnight clashes brought the death toll to 15 in...
WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a debt ceiling bill passed by Congress after weeks of...
SINGAPORE: US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Saturday it was “essential” to renew dialogue with China to...
WASHINGTON: The United States does not need more nuclear weapons to deter the combined forces of Russia and China...
ADDIS ABABA: Three people were killed on Friday when police clashed with worshippers outside Addis Ababa´s largest...