AFU Push Occupiers Back Off Bakhmut In Key Section

Ukrainian paratroopers launched an offensive and "broke the spine of Russian troops".

Ukrainian paratroopers went on a counter-offensive in Bakhmut and prevented the Russian occupiers from taking the town into encirclement. The defenders attacked the enemy and shelled Russian positions with artillery. This was reported by the New York Times News.

The publication said that as early as March 4, separate airborne assault brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces had launched attacks. Their efforts were supported by incoming reinforcements, which carried out a successful artillery shelling of enemy deployments.

"The AFU command acknowledged that the risks of encircling their forces remain, but the fighting over the weekend showed that the military continues to hold positions and is not ready to retreat from Bakhmut," the NYT reported.

Ukrainian forces have managed to push the enemy away from a transport route that provides both supplies to the group and a possible retreat in case a command comes in.

"I am confident that Bakhmut will hold out. We have enough forces to push the enemy away from this town, but it depends on the command's objectives, either to keep the town or to inflict maximum losses on the enemy," Colonel Evgeny Mezhevikin, commander of the combined tactical group, said.

According to the military, a tough artillery confrontation continues in the Bakhmut direction. There are some ammunition difficulties, but the situation remains under control.

The Russian side continues its intensified assaults, not taking into account losses. Groups of 15-20 people are attacking 6-7 times a day.

Both the mobilized reserves and the Wagner units are being "grinded down". The advancing of the enemy is taking place mainly thanks to numerical superiority, but there is also a technical superiority.

"The enemy was sending 20 guys to attack six or seven times a day. Imagine this: twenty men come, we kill them. Five minutes later another 20 guys come in, we kill them. After one hour, 20 more. They do not care about people," said company commander Oleksandr.

The military admits that the Russians could have destroyed an entire city block to eliminate just one Ukrainian sapper.

Ukrainian Major Pantsirny said the Ukrainian fighters "broke the occupiers' spine". The Ukrainian Armed Forces eliminated a huge number of Wagner soldiers and mobilized Russians near Bakhmut.

Against the backdrop of the situation, Prigozhin, head of the Wagner PMC, says that there are risks for his Wagner units from the groups created by the AFU, concentrated in several settlements adjacent to Bakhmut. In connection with the current situation, he requires "covering the flanks", without which he predicts "critical problems".