Ukrainian Troops Regain Positions Around Bakhmut

The results of the fighting for the city have been shown on new maps.

Ukrainian troops regained positions around Bakhmut. The American Institute for the Study of War writes about this in the operational report dated March 31.

Ukrainian officials continue to emphasize the importance of Ukraine’s continued defense in this area on March 31. Geolocated footage posted on March 31 indicates that Ukrainian troops conducted a counterattack southwest of Bakhmut and regained lost positions south of Ivanivske (about 7 km southwest of Bakhmut).

Deputy Ukrainian Defense Minister Hanna Malyar stated on March 31 that Ukraine’s committed defense of Bakhmut has made it ”the most expensive” Russian effort of the war and noted that ”the time, weapons, equipment, and huge number of casualties spent by the enemy on the capture of Bakhmut do not justify themselves from the point of view of military expediency.”

“Malyar’s statement supports ISW assessment that the Ukrainian defense of Bakhmut remains strategically sound as long as Ukrainian troops force Russian troops to attrit manpower and equipment without Ukrainian troops suffering excessive losses,” the ISW’s report states.

At the same time, according to the war experts, Russian occupying forces continued offensive operations in the city and around it on March 31. Geolocation footage shows the flag of the “Wagner” group in a building in the center of Bakhmut within a few blocks of the city administration building. Russian “military correspondents” claimed that “Wagner” was advancing in the north and south of the city.

Also, one of the well-known milbloggers noted that “Wagner” could not make much progress in Bakhmut and that all attacks in and around the city were unsuccessful. PMC owner Yevgeny Prigozhin said there were no signs that Ukrainian troops were leaving Bakhmut, ISW analysts added.

On March 31, Malyar, speaking about the cost of fighting for Bakhmut for the Russian Federation, said that Moscow “raised the stakes to its own detriment”.

“The enemy did not leave his plans and went on principle, raising the stakes to his own detriment. This is very “Russian”, you can’t understand the logic,” she wrote on Telegram.