MOSCOW (Reuters/AP) – Fighters of Russia’s Wagner group has captured two more areas of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Saturday.
“On the Donetsk direction, the fiercest fighting has been continuing in the city of Artyomovsk,” the ministry said in a daily statement, referring to the settlement by its Soviet-era name.
“Wagner assault units successfully advanced, capturing two areas on the northern and southern outskirts of the city,” it said.
The statement said Russian army paratroop units were supporting the advance by holding back Ukrainian forces on the flanks.
Wagner has spearheaded Russia’s attempt to take Bakhmut since last summer in what has been the longest and deadliest battle of the war for both sides. Its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin has frequently complained of poor support for his forces from the regular military.
Britain said in an intelligence update on Friday that Ukrainian troops had been forced to cede some territory in Bakhmut as Russia mounted a renewed assault there, with intense artillery fire over the previous two days.
Bakhmut, which had a pre-war population of around 70,000 people, has been Russia’s main target in a winter attack.
The death toll from Russian missile strikes on eastern Ukraine’s city of Sloviansk rose to 11 Saturday as rescue crews tried to reach people trapped in the rubble of an apartment building, Ukrainian authorities said.
Ukraine’s air force said the country would soon have weapons with which to try to prevent attacks like the one on Friday. The delivery of the Patriot air defense system promised by the U.S. was expected in Ukraine sometime after Easter, Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat said.
Speaking Saturday on Ukrainian state TV, Ihnat declined to give a precise timeline for the arrival of the defensive missile system but said the public would know “as soon as the first Russian aircraft is shot down.”
Germany and the Netherlands also have pledged to provide a Patriot system each to Ukraine. In addition, a SAMP/T anti-missile system pledged by France and Italy “should enter Ukraine in the near future,” Ihnat said this week.
Meanwhile, a new law signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday that allows military offices to send draft notices electronically instead of delivering them in person is part of Russia’s preparation for a protracted war in Ukraine, the UK Defense Ministry said in a Saturday morning assessment.
According to British intelligence, a “unified registry of individuals eligible for military service” will be digitally linked to other government services, allowing Russian authorities to “punish draft-dodgers by automatically limiting employment rights and restricting foreign travel.”