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Ukraine has made "tactically significant gains" around the besieged city of Bakhmut, a think tank says.
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Russian troops are likely suffering "poor morale" with limited ability to strike back, the UK MoD said.
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The reported gains have come as Ukraine undertakes its long-anticipated counteroffensive.
Ukrainian forces have made "tactically significant gains" around the besieged city of Bakhmut, a think tank says.
Geolocated footage published Thursday shows that Ukrainian troops made gains in Yahidne, around a mile north of Bakhmut, according to Washington DC-based think tank the Institute of the Study of War (ISW).
The Ukrainian General Staff said that offensive operations had been conducted north and south of the city, ISW noted.
Fighting around Bakhmut has intensified in the past week following a lull last month, the UK Ministry of Defense said in an intelligence update on Saturday.
Ukraine's forces have made gains while Russian defenders are likely suffering from "poor morale, a mix of disparate units and a limited ability to find and strike Ukrainian artillery," the department said.
Capturing Bakhmut was a rare battlefield victory for Moscow, the department noted, and Russian leadership likely saw it as "politically unacceptable to concede." However, it is unlikely that they have many more reserves to commit to the battle, the UK Ministry of Defense said.
Along with the gains around Bakhmut, Ukraine's forces have also continued operations in at least three other sectors of the frontline on Friday, according to ISW.
The ongoing offensive operations include those in western Zaporizhia Oblast and along the administrative border between Zaporizhia and Donetsk Oblasts, the Ukrainian General Staff said.
Ukraine launched its much-anticipated counteroffensive to take back territory occupied by Russia in early June, marking a critical possible turning point in the war.
Since the counteroffensive began, reports have been mixed about its success, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy admitting that the efforts have been "slower than desired."
However, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said that the pace was understandable, given that Ukrainian soldiers are fighting "for their life."
"So yes, sure, it goes a little slow, but that is part of the nature of war," Milley said, per CNN.
The year-long bloody battle for Bakhmut
In August 2022, Russia attacked Bakhmut using a combination of Wagner Group mercenaries, Russian soldiers, and pro-Russian separatist forces.
Russia and Ukraine have been locked in an intense and bloody battle for the city ever since, with around 80,000 people killed or wounded by Western estimates.
Bakhmut is of limited tactical value but has become a huge source of symbolic significance for both sides.
In Ukraine, photos of street fighting and trench warfare came to symbolize the country's resistance against Russia, with the slogan "Bakhmut holds!" a popular rallying used to cry on social media.
For Russia, the battle for Bakhmut has become synonymous with both the Wagner Group and its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, a former close ally of Vladimir Putin who ordered his troops to rebel against the Kremlin last month before later calling off the mutiny in exchange for being sent to Belarus and facing no further charges.
Read the original article on Business Insider
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