Ukraine not to surrender Bakhmut, Russians paratroopers badly hit – Lt. of Ukraine's Armed Forces

Ukrainian fighters are not going to surrender Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast to the Russian invaders; a multi-layer defence perimeter has been set in the city.

Source: Volodymyr Nazarenko, deputy commander of Svoboda battalion, Lieutenant of the National Guard of Ukraine, in the broadcast of the Svoboda Live program; Radio Svoboda

Quote: "I would like to assure you that the Ukrainian forces are not going to surrender the city.

Every street of the city is guarded. Every street, every building is a fortress. There are strong fortifications throughout the city. I do not want to disclose their exact location and how they are equipped but trust me: this is a multi-layer defence.

Russians are carrying out active, very dynamic, very tense battles in the outskirts of the city, which is a private sector and a few apartment blocks in the North, to the East from the city, but in general the occupiers have not reached the heart of the city. They are trying to push through but they are not there yet. In fact, the heart of the city, the city centre, and western outskirts are under secure control. The Ukrainian forces are the masters in this city.

So far we cannot say that full-blown street fights are ongoing there, like they were in the cities of Sievierodonetsk and Rubizhne in Luhansk Oblast. Because there is a pretty reliable defence in the city."

Details: Nazarenko is convinced that "Russian forces will end sooner or later", and Russians already "have to rebuild new connections again and again after the previous ones were thwarted."

Nazarenko states that at the beginning of January, there were statements that almost all personnel of the Wagner Group was killed, and that Russians "deployed a landing force" but Ukrainians "hit it, ragged it badly."

Quote: "Now they withdrew their landing forces on some fronts and ordered to simply hold the defence. We know that during last week, the frontline was stabilised.

Now Russians are pushing very hard again; they started pressuring on the northern flank, northern outskirts towards Krasna Hora. But they are also suffering big losses there. Very soon they will no longer be able to deploy new forces.

(…) This is rather my personal hope than a forecast. I don’t want to be the person who said that the war would be over in 2-3 weeks but, to my mind, it feels like Russians have it harder and harder."

Details: Nazarenko added that on the front line, where the 24th Brigade and the Svoboda battalion are currently deployed, it feels like "it is getting harder and harder for Russians to look for new reserves": since 1 January, they have been "deploying the units they would like to keep for the spring full-scale offensive."

Nazarenko believes that "now they understand that they are not able to carry out this spring offensive."

"We will see what the end of winter and the beginning of spring will be like. But I hope that it will all be limited to the front where Russians are actively fighting and suffering huge losses at the moment," – Nazarenko stated.

Russians have to take into account these losses they are suffering both in the rear and in the frontline area, as well as in the front where they deploy small groups.

"It is getting harder and harder for Russians to find new combat-ready forces", he said, though the situation is really tense and complicated.

Background: On 3 February, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that "the city of Bakhmut will not be surrendered; we will fight for as long as we can."

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