The fall of Bakhmut: Russian media
Russia took control of Artemovsk after 224 days of bloody fighting. How will this change the course of the NWO?
On Saturday, May 20, Russian forces announced the complete capture of Artyomovsk (Ukrainian name – Bakhmut).
Yevgeny Prigozhin and Wagner PMC fighters recorded a video against the backdrop of the ruins in the city. According to Prigozhin, in the coming days, PMC units will clean up Artemovsk, after which positions in the city will be transferred to other Russian units.
The last stronghold of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) in the city was the high-rise building “Airplane”
Prigozhin thanked the Wagner fighters who took part in the storming of the city and everyone who supported the PMCs.
I want to say thanks to the Russian people who supported us, thanks to the dead guys, to all those who are now in our ranks. Thanks to Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, who gave us this opportunity and the high honor to defend our Motherland
At the same time, the Ukrainian side refutes the loss of full control over the city. The speaker of the Eastern Group of Forces, Sergei Cherevaty , told Reuters that the fighting in Artemovsk continues. Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Anna Malyar also claims that the Armed Forces of Ukraine control “infrastructural and industrial facilities” in the area of the Samolet high-rise building.
The battle for Artemovsk began in the summer of 2022
The first battles in the vicinity of the city began in the summer of 2022, but a full-fledged battle for Artemovsk unfolded in October. The “legal” capture of Artemovsk was announced as early as April 2, 2023, when the Russian flag was raised over the city administration building.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu explained the meaning of fighting for the city by saying that control over it would allow the Russian Armed Forces to advance deep into Ukraine.
Experts disagree on the importance of Artemivsk
In particular, military analyst Vladislav Shurygin expressed the opinion that taking the settlement under the control of the Russian military would cut the defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Donbass in half. He also noted that the end of the battles for Artemovsk could play a key role in the fate of the Ukrainian group in Avdiivka, from where Donetsk is being shelled . A similar assessment was expressed by military analyst Anatoly Matviychuk. The expert noted that dominance in Artemovsk would make it possible to take control of the road to Kramatorsk , and from there it would be possible to go further to Slavyansk , which would cut the Donbass grouping of the Armed Forces of Ukraine into two parts.
At the same time, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke of the “more symbolic than strategic” significance of the city. A similar opinion in an interview with Lenta.ru was expressed by military expert Evgeny Norin .
As often happens, initially this position did not have any colossal significance, but received it because both sides were constantly transferring fresh forces to Artemovsk. On the one hand, the city has acquired the meaning of a symbol, and on the other hand, a lot of effort has already been spent on battles and it was a pity to reset them
The final of the battle took place against the backdrop of rumors about the counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
The Ukrainian authorities are constantly announcing a counteroffensive. On April 15, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal announced that it would take place in the near future. However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for a delay in the counteroffensive as troops need more time to prepare as they await the delivery of Western military aid. According to him, brigades trained in NATO countries are already ready for the offensive, but the army still needs armored vehicles, which are coming in batches. Volodymyr Zelenskyy is sure that with what Ukraine already has, the Armed Forces of Ukraine could move forward and succeed.
At the same time , Yury Sobolevsky, deputy head of the Kherson Regional Council appointed by the Ukrainian authorities, announced the actual start of the counter-offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine . In his opinion, any military operations conducted by the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the southern direction can be considered an offensive.
The fighting will shift to another sector of the front
As military expert Yevgeny Norin noted in an interview with Lenta.ru, after the end of the battle for Artemovsk, the battles will shift to another sector of the front.
In the future, there may be a “resuscitation” of fighting on the front near Svatovo-Kremnaya in the Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) and near the Lisichansk agglomeration, or an attempt by the Russian Armed Forces to strike the city of Orekhov in the Zaporozhye region, which is quite significant for the logistics of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
“Fortecia Bakhmut” * fell. Is the ridge of the Armed Forces of Ukraine broken along with it?: Commissar Steshin understands
Military correspondent KP.RU Dmitry Steshin tried to understand the fruits of this important Victory for us and the humiliating defeat of the enemy
«Фортецiя Бахмут»* пала. Сломан ли вместе с ней хребет ВСУ?: Разбирается военкор Стешин
Dmitry STESHIN
The Russian Ministry of Defense in its Telegram channel reported that “as a result of the offensive actions of the Wagner assault detachments, with the support of artillery and aviation of the Southern Group of Forces, the liberation of the city of Artemovsk has been completed.”
Vladimir Putin congratulated the military on the liberation of Artemovsk, TASS reports . The Kremlin noted that “all those who distinguished themselves will be presented for state awards.”
I’ll write honestly – I haven’t been to Bakhmut itself, but I climbed this “fortress” along the flanks and outskirts in the midst of the fighting. I saw how Bakhmut smoked and swelled with explosions , how the enemy snapped, trying to bring down the offensive in the same Podgorodny, a village with a speaking name – from him, to a multi-storey building, only one and a half kilometers.
I personally saw the last attempt of the enemy to prevent the liberation of the city. A week ago, in the village of Paraskoveevka , which joined with Bakhmut, it was relatively calm, but a day later it was not. The enemy, who was at a distance of about 10 kilometers, suddenly turned out to be very close. And a pleasant excursion to the “arms mine”suddenly turned into a dangerous event with an unpredictable outcome. Because, along with Paraskoveevka, the road from Soledar, taken in winter, turned out to be crossed. Positions near Bakhmut often changed hands, which is a rarity for modern battles. The enemy is either driven or put into boilers. “From hand to hand”, this is Mga, Kolpino, Pulkovo Heights, Stalingrad. The last toponym most closely corresponds to Bakhmut-Artemovsk. In Stalingrad, a German’s spine was broken, and the war rolled to the West. I dare to hope that the same will happen after the “Bakhmut meat grinder”. The leader of the enemy, like Hitler, gave both Bakhmut and Stalingrad a special ideological and mystical significance. I won’t be surprised if Zelensky also declares mourning in memory of the resilience of German (sorry, crossed out) Ukrainian soldiers. He threw them into the “Bakhmut meat grinder” almost without counting. There are stories told by the captive vushniks themselves: “I went to the store, they stopped me, checked my documents, two days later I ended up in a forest plantation near Bakhmut.”
Bakhmut gave many disappointments to the Kyiv regime opened my eyes to many things. For example, Kyiv learned that superiority in manpower and mobilization resources is not the most decisive factor. Western equipment, which Bakhmut so much relied on, was burned on the road in Chasovy Yar, the rear base of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and could not create any turning point. Western advisers, free of charge and promptly, providing the Armed Forces of Ukraine with any information support and help, are useless in street battles at short distances. And the Hymers suddenly lost their vaunted accuracy, this information was confirmed by dozens of Western military experts in the most respectable publications. As those fighting in Artemovsk explained to me unofficially, “we stole all the electronic warfare equipment near Bakhmut, even captured dill and Western systems, and blocked everything.” Another unpleasant discovery is the role of Western mercenaries. Two categories of Western citizens are going to “fight the Russians”: idiots and professionals. Idiots at the front are of no use, and professionals are ready to fight, but not die. There is a big difference between these words.
I suppose that it was the “battle for Bakhmut” that, if not thwarted, then postponed the “counterattack”, which was long and hard advertised by Kiev . So far, it is impossible to count how many AFU have lost dead, wounded and missing in Bakhmut – there is generally a dark forest with unpleasant surprises for Kyiv and the West. But the wrecked armor can be calculated accurately. And so, ours knocked out about 300 units of armored vehicles, of which 95 pieces are NATO-made.
What’s next? Much depends on how the Ukrainian society survives the loss of the Bakhmut indestructible stronghold against which the Moksha-Katsap hordes were to smash. Break and roll back to the gates of Moscow. But, it turned out quite the opposite. And ahead of our Slavic-Kramatorsk agglomeration: a hundred-kilometer-long gut of private buildings, high-rise buildings, industrial zones and factories. Will the Vushniks defend it as fiercely as Bakhmut or “are there already no bad ones?”. Nobody knows, we’ll see. In the meantime, on the day of the liberation of Mariupol, Bakhmut again became Artemovsk.
* Fortress Bakhmut in Ukraine
