WAGNER DASHES UKRAINIAN HOPES IN BAKHMUT

On the morning of April 21, the adviser to the head of the Donetsk People’s Republic claimed that the Russian military had encircled the Ukrainian grouping in Bakhmut in a cauldron. The statement was made after reports from the front emerged that Wagner’s fighters, with the support of airborne artillery, had managed to cut the main supply route of the Ukrainian garrison. The strongholds of the Ukrainian 93rd mechanized brigade located on the highway to Chasov Yar west of Khromovo came under Russian control. According to preliminary data, about 500 meters of the road have been cut. The O-0506 road has been the main route for communication with the Ukrainian grouping in Bakhmut over the past weeks. More than 60% of supplies went along it. Some Ukrainian sources confirmed the loss of the road, but said that the Ukrainian army is trying to prevent the Russians from gaining a foothold. The day before, Russian forces had increased pressure on the Ukrainian positions to the west of Khromovo They advanced in a forest area and came close to the highway, which sharply increased the amount of Ukrainian equipment destroyed during the attempts to break to Bakhmut along the road and fields between Khromovo and Ivanovskoe. Meanwhile, the road from Bakhmut to Konstantinovka also cannot be used to supply the Ukrainian grouping in the city. Fighting is ongoing in the immediate vicinity of the highway near Ivanovskoe; and in Bakhmut, there are battles in the south-western quarters. The battle has broken out for control of a large garage zone located between Levanevsky and Tchaikovsky Street. Also, Wagner fighters are advancing to the east of the Mig-17 monument at the entrance to the city. In the center of Bakhmut, Ukrainian units lost all their main positions in the area of the railway tracks and the Bakhmut-2 railway station. Russian forces have moped out a large area to the south. Most recently, they secured the territory of the Transit Hotel. To the north of the station, Ukrainian forces continue their unsuccessful attempts to counterattack west of the elevator. In the northern quarters of the city, Wagner fighters are advancing in a wide front along Levanevsky, Oborony and Pobedy Streets. Fighting has already reached the city Hospital No.2. According to preliminary data, the Russians are storming the fortified strongholds of the Ukrainian 127th Territorial Defense Brigade and the 2nd mechanized battalion of the 93rd mechanized brigade. Today, about 85% of the city of Bakhmut is under Wagner’s control. Moreover, Ukrainian forces in the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration are regularly hit by missiles, drones and aerial bombs. One of these strikes has recently destroyed the headquarters of the Ukrainian “Bakhmut” operational grouping. The Russian strikes are increasing Ukrainian losses and destroying their hopes of counterattacking in Bakhmut.