After weeks of excitement, a counteroffensive by the Ukrainian army and a resounding success at Kherson, the invaders attempted to encircle Bagmut in the east, in Donetsk. As the Kiev government asks Europe for help, the cost of a series of Russian bombings on Ukraine’s power grid is piling up.
The Kremlin is trying to fragment Ukraine’s energy grid, destroying power substations so that even if one region has power, it cannot be sent to neighboring countries, ministers from NATO member states gathered in Bucharest have heard. At least 37 parts have been delivered to Ukraine, with the main priority being transformers, used in substations, Artur Lorkovsky told the Guardian directly from the Energy Community.
“They have some equipment that they had stored earlier, but the stocks have run out. The stored equipment may not be enough for repair operations,” he warned. Ukrainian officials even need cars to transport their technicians, electricians and engineers around the country. Incidentally, the government of Kiev could not celebrate the liberation of Kherson, facing the arrival of winter and having to evacuate the city due to lack of electricity.
On the other side of the country, in the east, Bakmut’s troops had no break. A few weeks before the withdrawal from Kherson, the slow Russian offensive in the region – resorting to massive artillery concentration – accelerated, gaining momentum with the arrival of units withdrawn from Kherson.
By withdrawing troops from Kherson, a difficult position on the west bank of the Dnipro, Russian commander-in-chief Vladimir Putin has assured Putin that he can focus on Donbass, read a Russian state newspaper. In fact, they captured some positions on the outskirts of Pakmut, spearheading veteran troops of Wagner mercenaries and Luhansk separatist militias.
Geolocating images confirmed Russian forces captured the village of Ozaryanivka, as well as Klishivka, Kurdyumivka, Andrivka, Zelenophilia and Pidorotne, 15 km from Bagmut. The Russians are trying to encircle.
However, although this essential city for supplying the Ukrainian army in the Donbass is in a very critical situation, “these gains do not threaten the important T0513 (Bakhmut-Siversk) and T0504 (Bakhmut-Kostyantynivka) roads. Bakhmut”, the Institute for Combat Research assessed.
“Hardcore explorer. Extreme communicator. Professional writer. General music practitioner. Prone to fits of apathy.”