Russia lost tens of thousands of fighters in the eight-month siege of Bakhmut in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region before the Kremlin’s Wagner mercenary group was able to capture the town. “Both sides are suffering high casualties, with Russian losses likely the highest since the peak of the battle for Bakhmut in March,” it said.
The British Ministry of Defence said that Ukraine’s counter-offensive has met dogged but patchy resistance from Russian units, meaning that progress has been uneven. Ukrainian officials have not yet commented on the recapture of Piatykhatky. Previous Ukrainian counter-offensive successes have been reported further east, on the western edge of the Donetsk region where officials have said that they have recaptured a handful of villages and around 40 square miles of territory. “After a long battle, Russian forces retreated in an organised manner from Piatykhatky, southeast of Kamensky, after which fighting continued on the outskirts,” it said. The capture of Piatykhatky was confirmed by the Ryber Telegram channel, which has close ties to the Russian ministry of defence.
If this link is broken, Russia becomes almost entirely reliant on a vulnerable 12-mile bridge from mainland Russia to resupply Crimea. The village lies 50 miles north of Melitopol, a key Ukrainian target that controls road and rail links between occupied Crimea and occupied parts of Donbas.
“Fighters from the Ukrainian armed forces have gained a foothold in Piatykhatky and pulled up their reserves,” he said. Vladimir Rogoz, a Kremlin-installed official in occupied Zaporizhzhia, said that Ukrainian forces had suffered heavy casualties in “waves of attacks” before they captured the village of Piatykhatky. Ukraine has recaptured its first village from Russia on the Zaporizhzhia front since it launched its counter-offensive, writes James Kilner.
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