[モスクワ ２１日 ロイター] – The Russian Ministry of Defense announced on the 21st, regarding the fighting situation in the key area of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, that Russian strike forces are continuing their offensive in the western part of the Bakhmut area, which is still held by the Ukrainian army.
Ukraine says the situation is under control, although Russian forces have made some progress in the Battle of Bakhmut after heavy fighting.
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, said in a video speech that the Ukrainian army is preparing anti-crime.
Russia relied heavily on fighters from the private military company Wagner in the attack on Bakhmut. Wagner’s founder, Evgeny Prigozhin, expressed concern about Ukraine’s reverse offensive in a voice message posted on the Telegram chat app the same day. “Western countries have transferred (to Ukraine) 230 tanks and 1,500 armored vehicles, enough for a full counter-attack,” he said, predicting that Ukrainian forces would go on the offensive after the rainy spring ended and the earth dried up. “They will attack us. We have to resist,” he said.
