Russia’s private army has claimed to have captured Bakhmut.
Russia Ukraine War: In the war that has been going on with Ukraine for almost one and a half years, Russia has got a big success. The city of Bakhmut, which was described as a ‘fortress’ by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, has been demolished by Russian mercenaries. Although Zelensky denied that he had lost Bakhmut, he did say, ‘Bakhmut is now only in our hearts.’ What is the significance of this victory for Russia? Should we assume that the path to victory has been opened for Putin?
In this city with a population of about 90 thousand, there was a war between the soldiers of Wagner Group from Russia and the soldiers of Ukraine since August last year. Despite all the efforts, Russia was not getting success. According to an estimate, 20 to 30 thousand Russian soldiers have also been killed just to capture this city. But on Sunday, Putin announced that Atryomovsk (ie Bakhmut) has been occupied by Russia.
Threat on two more cities of Ukraine
The US continues to deny that Bakhmut is extremely important from a strategic point of view. The Pentagon has been saying that its strategic importance is very less. But if it is true that Bakhmut has been captured, then other cities of Ukraine are also in danger. Bakhmut’s victory has also opened the doors for Putin to two more big cities of the Donetsk region, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk. Kramatorsk with a population of about 1.5 million is twice the size of Bakhmut. While Slovinsk is also much bigger than Bakhmut in terms of population and area.
The commander of the Wagner Group – Hero of Russia, Alexander “Ratibor” Kuznetsov hoisting the banner of PMC Wagner and the flag of Russia on the last high-rise building in Bakhmut. pic.twitter.com/hxqNSqveVG
— Spriter (@Spriter99880) May 21, 2023
This city will be on Putin’s target
Russia has been eyeing the cities of Kramatorsk and Slovinsk for a long time. Zelensky himself had expressed apprehension in an interview that if Bakhmut goes out of hand, two more cities will be in danger. After Bakhmut’s departure, the next town on Putin’s target could be Chasiv Yar, which is west of Bakhmut. Although this city is situated at a height, which can give advantage to Ukrainian soldiers.
the city is in ruins
Bakhmut has been bleeding since last August. Russia still calls the city by its Soviet Union-era name, Atryomovsk. Due to the war going on for so many months, the city has turned into ruins. About 80 thousand people have left the city. Bombs are raining from the sky on such a large scale that people have to go underground.
One of the leaders of the Russian Wagner units “Vladimir Razin” 🇷🇺: At nine o’clock in the evening 35,000 Ukrainian soldiers withdrew from the outskirts of Bakhmut, whence they fled to Chazov Yar and there they will hide and dig trenches, creating a new bastion for defense—we are pic.twitter.com/K7fA1dy7W5
— Spriter (@Spriter99880) May 20, 2023
Russian soldiers will get ‘new life’
Despite fighting the war for a year and a half, Putin was not able to defeat Ukraine. Thousands of Russian soldiers have been killed, but so far Putin has not been able to succeed. Due to this the morale of the Russian soldiers was also breaking. Frustration was also being seen among the common citizens in the country. Putin had changed many military officers continuously. Questions started arising in everyone’s mind. With this victory, the lost morale of Russian soldiers can return.
Wagner got ‘sanjeevani’
Questions were also being raised on the capability of Russia’s ‘mercenary army’ i.e. Wagner Group (Wagner Mercenaries). People had started losing faith in this private army of Russia. Differences were seen on several occasions between Wagner’s head Yevgeny Prigozhin and the Russian government. Now with this victory, Wagner can also get a new lifeline.
