Putin closes in on his first major war victory for six months: Ukraine admits situation is ‘extremely tense’ as Russia steps up assault on Bakhmut and moves to cut off supply lines, forcing a surrender

• Russia is trying to cut Ukrainian defenders’ supply lines to the city of Bakhmut 
• Russian victory would open way to capture of last remaining areas of Donetsk

Ukraine today admitted that the situation around the besieged city of Bakhmut is ‘extremely tense’ as Vladimir Putin’s forces stepped up their assault in a bid to encircle Ukrainian troops there.

Russia is trying to cut the Ukrainian defenders’ supply lines to the city, the scene of some of the war’s toughest fighting, and force them to surrender or withdraw. 

This would give Putin his first major war victory in more than half a year and open the way to the capture of the last remaining urban centres in the Donetsk region.

‘Despite significant losses, the enemy threw in the most prepared assault units of Wagner, who are trying to break through the defences of our troops and surround the city,’ Ukraine’s Colonel general Oleksandr Syrskyi said on a military messaging platform.

Ukraine’s military said earlier Russia had strengthened its forces in the Bakhmut area and was shelling settlements around the city.

Ukrainian servicemen are seen near an automatic grenade launcher at their positions, as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, in the front line city of Bakhmut, in Donetsk region, Ukraine

A Ukrainian serviceman walks an empty street, as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, in the front line city of Bakhmut, in Donetsk region, Ukraine, on February 25

Ukrainian service members are seen next an infantry fighting vehicle near the frontline town of Bakhmut, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine

‘Over the past day, our soldiers repelled more than 60 enemy attacks,’ the military said early on Tuesday referring to Bakhmut and nearby eastern areas, adding that Ukrainian forces repelled Russian attacks on the villages of Yadhidne and Berkhivka, on the northern approaches to Bakhmut.

Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov said Russian forces had driven a wedge between those villages as they tried to cut the road west to Chasiv Yar.

‘The southern part of Bakhmut is the only area which can be described as under Ukrainian control. In all other districts, the situation is unpredictable,’ he said in a video commentary, adding: ‘It is impossible to say where the front line lies.’

Yesterday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksy said the situation in Bakhmut is ‘getting more and more complicated’.

‘The enemy is constantly destroying everything that can be used to protect our positions,’ he said, calling Ukrainian soldiers fighting for Bakhmut ‘real heroes.’

Taking Bakhmut would be a major win for Moscow but analysts say its capture would be mainly symbolic as the salt-mining town holds little strategic value.

Ukrainian service members ride inside an infantry fighting vehicle near the frontline town of Bakhmut

A Ukrainian serviceman looks through a broken window of a damaged residential building as the sounds of shelling continue in Bakhmut on February 27

This photograph taken on February 27 shows a destroyed and burnt residential building as the distance shelling continues in Bakhmut, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Meanwhile, Ukrainian soldiers in Donetsk region hunkered in muddy trenches after warmer weather thawed out the frozen ground.

‘Both sides stay in their positions, because as you see, spring means mud. Thus, it is impossible to move forward,’ said Mykola, 59, commander of a Ukrainian frontline rocket launcher battery, watching a tablet screen for coordinates to fire.

The spring thaw, known as the rasputitsa, has a history of ruining plans by armies to attack across Ukraine and western Russia, turning roads into rivers and fields into quagmires.

Reuters saw several military vehicles stuck in mud. In a zigzag trench, Volodymyr, a 25-year-old platoon commander, said his men were prepared to operate in any weather.

‘When we’re given a target that means we have to destroy it.’

Russia, its forces replenished with hundreds of thousands of conscripts, has intensified its attacks along the eastern front but its assaults have come at a high cost, Ukraine and its allies say.

‘Vicious battles are going on there. The command is doing everything it can to stop the enemy from advancing through our territory,’ Serhiy Cherevatyi, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s eastern military command, told Ukrainian television.

Russia said its forces had destroyed a Ukrainian ammunition depot near Bakhmut and shot down U.S.-made rockets and Ukrainian drones. Reuters could not verify the battlefield reports.

The Russian defence ministry said the United States was planning a provocation in Ukraine using toxic chemicals. There was no immediate U.S. response.

Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen became the latest senior Western official to visit the Ukrainian capital, promising assistance and more measures to isolate Russia after meetings with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and other officials.

Her boss, President Joe Biden, went there a week ago to mark the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

‘America will stand with Ukraine as long as it takes,’ Yellen, flanked by sandbags at the Cabinet office, told Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.

A Ukrainian serviceman of a fire platoon stands in a trench near the frontline, as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, in Donetsk region, Ukraine, on February 27

An MLRS, Multiple Launch Rocket System, based on the BM-21 “Grad” fires a rocket, near the frontline, as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, in Donetsk region, Ukraine, on February 27

Yellen announced the transfer of the first $1.25 billion from the latest, $9.9 billion tranche of U.S. economic and budget assistance, and visited a school where teacher salaries are reimbursed with U.S. support.

She also backed completion of a fully financed programme for Ukraine with the International Monetary Fund by the end of March.

Ukraine’s forces have mostly focused on holding defensive positions in recent weeks but are expected to attempt a counter-offensive later in the year with new weapons from the West.

Zelenskiy pushed again for F-16 fighter jets that his Western allies have been reluctant to provide.

‘We will be able to completely protect our skies when the aviation taboo is fully lifted in relations with our partners,’ Zelenskiy said in his nightly radio address.

The first anniversary of Russia’s invasion saw both sides trying to demonstrate resolve for a second year of war. 

Putin gave a speech in which he abandoned the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty with the United States but announced no major initiatives to change the war’s course.

He was upstaged by Biden, who travelled to Kyiv and gave a landmark speech of his own in Warsaw.

Ukraine’s outnumbered troops repelled Russia’s attack aimed at taking the capital early in the war and later recaptured substantial territory. Russia still occupies nearly a fifth of Ukraine which it claims to have annexed.

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