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On Thursday, fighting for possession of the eastern city of Bakhmut continued, with reports of Russian attacks on energy infrastructure in all of Ukraine.
Millions of people’s access to electricity, heating, and water has been disrupted for months as a result of Russia’s relentless bombardment of critical Ukrainian facilities with missiles and drones.
Strikes were reportedly recorded in the northeastern city of Kharkiv, the southwestern region of Odesa, and the capital city of Kyiv, causing significant power outages.
The south of the city had experienced “explosions,” according to Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kiev, and about 15% of homes were without electricity.
All services are en route to the site, he declared.
“Emergency power outages are in effect due to an enemy attack,” the Kyiv division of Ukrainian energy provider DTEK stated.
Governor Oleg Synegubov in the Kharkiv area, which is close to the Russian border, reported 15 strikes.
Once more, the occupiers targeted important infrastructure sites, he posted on social media.
Synegubov continued by saying that the number of victims and the extent of the harm were both being “clarified”.
In Kharkiv, the largest city in the area, the mayor Igor Terekhov claimed that “energy infrastructure” had been attacked and that there were “problems” with the city’s electricity in some areas.
Thankfully, there were no fatalities, he added, noting that “power supply restrictions” were in force.
Bakhmut could slip
The surge of attacks follows news from Russia that it is making progress in the protracted conflict for the industrial city of Bakhmut.
The eastern portion of the city, according to the Wagner military group from Russia, which has been leading the assault on Bakhmut.
On Wednesday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg spoke to reporters in Stockholm on the eve of an EU defense ministers meeting. “What we see is that Russia is throwing more soldiers, more forces, and what Russia lacks in quality they try to make up for in number,” he said.
We can’t rule out the possibility that Bakhmut will ultimately fall in the ensuing days “”This does not necessarily represent any turning point of the war,” the commander of the US-led military alliance added.
Russian advances in eastern Ukraine could be accelerated by the fall of Bakhmut, Ukrainian officials have cautioned.
The fight in Bakhmut should be viewed as a “victory,” according to Ukraine’s deputy defense minister Ganna Maliar on Wednesday.
“The fact that our troops have been decimating the most potent and well-trained “Wagner” forces there for several months running is a victory.
The adversary has more manpower and weapons, but under these circumstances, our fighters bravely engage the enemy on a nearly equal footing,” she said.
Need additional weapons
On Wednesday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who was in Ukraine for the third time since Russia’s incursion, was also welcomed in Kyiv by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The need to extend an agreement that has enabled Ukraine to export its grain but is set to expire was emphasized by Guterres.
The rollover of the Black Sea Grain Initiative on March 18 is of utmost significance, Guterres emphasized.
As pressure mounts on Kyiv’s allies to increase supplies to the war effort, the EU defense ministers at their meeting in Stockholm also considered a proposal to rush one billion euros’ worth of ammunition to Ukraine.
As Kyiv fires thousands of 155-millimeter howitzer shells per day in its struggle against the grueling Russian assault, Kyiv’s Western backers have issued an urgent warning.
We need to increase production because the present ratio of ammunition production to consumption is unsustainable, according to Stoltenberg.
