Maps from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a United States-based think tank, on Saturday show Ukrainian advances as Russia attempts to capture Donetsk Oblast in eastern Ukraine.
Bakhmut has seen some of the most intense fighting since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. However, the Eastern European country has responded with a stronger-than-expected defense effort, bolstered by Western aid, that has blunted Russian military gains.
On Saturday, Ukrainian forces advanced on Bakhmut’s southern flank, according to the ISW. Citing Russian military bloggers, the think tank reported that Ukrainian forces were able to advance along the forest line north of Klishchiivka, about 4 miles southwest of Bakhmut, which serves as a regional hub with highways that lead to strategic cities in the Donbas, such as Kramatorsk and Slovyansk.
Russian forces continued to attack north and south of Bakhmut on Saturday, but did not make any claimed or confirmed advances. However, they did make advances around Avdiivka in the Donbas region, according to the ISW.
Aris Messinis/AFP via Getty Images
The think tank added in its report that Moscow advanced towards the railway southeast of Stepove, which is about 5 miles northwest of Avdiivka, and west of Krasnohorivka, about 5 miles north of Avdiivka, according to geolocated footage published Friday and Saturday.
Meanwhile, Kyiv counterattacked Moscow’s advances near the railway north of Avdiivka on Saturday, according to the ISW who cited a Russian milblogger. Russian forces also marginally advanced south of Chervone, which is in Zhytomyr Oblast, according to geolocated footage published on Friday as they maintain frontline positions in the Southern Axis.
Institute for the Study of War
Institute for the Study of War
As Russian forces attempt to encircle Avdiivka, which is considered the gateway to the city of Donetsk, it has suffered huge losses of troops.
In a United Kingdom Ministry of Defense update on October 28, defense officials said that “Russia has probably committed elements of up to eight brigades to the sector,” which have “likely suffered some of Russia’s highest casualty rates of 2023 so far.”
“Political leaders demand more territory to be seized, but the military cannot generate effective operational-level offensive action,” according to the update that was posted to X, formerly Twitter.
The update came as Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov told U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in a phone call that Russia has lost around 4,000 soldiers in Avdiivka, according to a Telegram post on October 28 from Ukraine’s defense ministry.
Meanwhile on Saturday, Ukraine’s military wrote in a Facebook post that Russia launched “sneak attacks” on 26 settlements in the Zaporizhzhia region and targeted personnel of the 128th brigade with a missile “resulting in the deaths of servicemen and various degrees of injuries to local residents.”
Newsweek reached out to Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense via email for comment.
In response, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky took to X on Sunday and wrote: “Concerning the Russian strike on the warriors of the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade. My condolences go out to the close ones of the fallen warriors. This is a tragedy that could have been avoided. Defense Minister Umerov informed me on all actions taken to determine full details of what happened and who issued which orders. A criminal investigation into the tragedy has also begun.”
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.