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By Brendan Cole
Senior Reporter
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Ukrainian forces are reportedly making gains towards the eastern city of Bakhmut as the prospect grows of retaking the city, which has been fiercely fought over for months.
Leader of the Wagner Group of mercenaries, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said in May that his fighters had control of the city in Donetsk and would be handing it over to the control of regular Russian forces. Since then, he led a mutiny against President Vladimir Putin, while Kyiv has insisted that it was still fighting for the city.
"It is just a matter of time until Ukrainian forces overrun Bakhmut, as reflected in advances already made by their forces in key areas surrounding the city," retired U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Robert Murrett, who is deputy director of the Syracuse University Institute for Security Policy and Law, told Newsweek.
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The recent push by Ukrainian forces along the north and south flanks of the city has raised concerns among Russian milbloggers, such as Alexander Sladkov who has presented mixed messages about the fight for the city.
On Wednesday, he wrote that Russian troops had abandoned the key outpost at Klishchiivka and that nearby Bakhmut was "under fire control of the Armed Forces of Ukraine" as well as "under the threat of assault."
However, in a later post, he said that the Russians remained entrenched in Klishchiivka as well as in the stronghold of Ostrov. Other sources said that Russia's 5th assault brigade had pushed back the Ukrainian forces from the stronghold.
The Kyiv-backed Euromaidan Press reported on Thursday that over the previous day, Ukrainian strikes on Russian logistics, fuel, and artillery batteries, had crippled a key Russian stronghold near Klishchiivka. This meant that "the liberation" of the village located on the commanding heights south of Bakhmut was "imminent," it added.
"The operations in and around Bakhmut are only one part of several offensive actions against Russian lines in the east and the south," Murrett told Newsweek.
"Ukraine is executing a deliberate campaign to disrupt Russian elements in rear areas, and at the same time keep them off balance at multiple points along the front.
"While such a campaign is not quite as immediately dramatic as other approaches, it will limit Ukrainian casualties, and over time will lead to more thorough and sustainable offensive gains across the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions."
Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar confirmed on Wednesday that Ukrainian troops were advancing in an unspecified area on Bakhmut's southern flank. Kyiv has said that Russian losses in the area were up to 10 times higher than Ukrainian losses.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said on Wednesday that geolocated footage showed that Ukrainian troops had advanced northwest, north and southwest of Bakhmut.
"Ukraine's recapture of the city would be a major boost to Kyiv's counteroffensive," said Wesley Renfro, political science professor at Quinnipiac University, Hamden, Connecticut. "Success in Bakhmut is likely to further cement much needed Western support for Kyiv and is yet another sign that Putin's position is greatly weakened."
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