Ukraine controls key supply route to Bakhmut, military says | World News

Ukraine still controls a key supply route to Bakhmut, but the situation in the besieged eastern city remains “very difficult,” a Ukrainian military spokesman said on Saturday.

For 10 months, Russian troops have been trying to break into the ruins of the city that was once home to 70,000 people. Kiev has pledged to defend Bakhmut, which Russia sees as a stepping stone to attacks on other cities.

“For weeks, the Russians have been talking about seizing the ‘Road of Life’, as well as maintaining constant fire control over it,” Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesman for the eastern Ukrainian army, told local news site Dzerkalo Tyzhnia.

“Yes, it’s really difficult there because they continue to try to seize the road and try to establish fire control. But … the Wehrmacht will not allow the Russians to ‘cut off’ our logistics.”

The “Road of Life” is an important road between the ruins of Bahmut and the nearby western town of Chasiv Yar – a distance of just over 17 kilometers (10.56 miles).

If Bakhmut falls, Chasiv Yar could be next under Russian attack, according to military analysts, despite its high ground and Ukrainian forces believed to have fortified nearby.

Yevgeny Prigozin, the founder of Russia’s Wagnerian mercenary group, who often claims unverifiable success, said his troops advanced about 100 to 150 meters (109 to 164 yards) at Bakhmut, Leave cities less than 3 square kilometers in Ukrainian hands.

But he added that 94 of his troops had been killed.

“If we had more ammunition, it would have decreased fivefold,” Prigozhin said in an audio statement on his news service’s Telegram messaging app on Saturday night.

He has often said that regular armed forces are not giving his soldiers the ammunition they need, and has sometimes accused senior officials of treachery.