Gerasimov Orders Russian Troops To Retreat From Bakhmut To Popasna

The Wagner military remaining in the town have been trapped by the AFU.

The Russian Federation's regular troops have received orders to retreat from Bakhmut to the area of Popasna, Luhansk Region, and have already started leaving, the Ukrainian media have reported.

Military expert Roman Svitan explained that the occupier's military command was making a manoeuvre in order to hold more advantageous positions.

However, Wagner PMC chief Evgeny Prigozhin, who has no military knowledge, sees this as a runaway move.

"The Russians now, Gerasimov (Russian Deputy Defence Minister Valery Gerasimov - ed.), have the task to retreat to Popasna, that is, to return from where Prigozhin started a year ago. For Prigozhin this is just a shot in the head, because he was telling and showing for a whole year that burlaks on the Volga were walking faster, compared to how he was moving from Popasna to Bakhmut - 30 km for more than a year. And for him it's just a disaster, he doesn't understand what the Russians are doing now," the expert commented on the situation at the front.

According to his assessment, the Russian units under Gerasimov's command are now performing the only possible maneuver from the military point of view. They are retreating, and for Prigozhin this seems to be fleeing the battlefield.

"Because the battlefield for Prigozhin is the distance between two rural toilets, and for Gerasimov the battlefield is at least 1,200 km of frontline. That is, the scale is too microscopic for the Russian military command, but for Prigozhin it is the whole world," Svitan said.

At the same time, the AFU needs to get into better positions to defend Bakhmut and the defenders are now carrying out these tasks.

"Broad offensives are a matter of the not-too-distant future. We will launch an offensive in the near future, continue with several breakthroughs... It will definitely not be near Bakhmut," the expert believes.

He reminded that the terrain of this area of Donbass is uplands and mountains, which makes no sense to attack. It would be more advantageous for the military to bypass the obstacles, enter Luhansk Region and "cut off" Bakhmut from help from the Russian Federation.

As Charter97.org reported, the Ukrainian armed forces' 3rd Assault Brigade broke the western flank of the Russians near Bakhmut.