A senior Ukrainian military commander said Russian forces used “scorch” tactics in the besieged city of Bakhmut, destroying buildings and positions with airstrikes and artillery.
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Commander of the Ukrainian Land Forces Colonel General Oleksandr Sersky said, “The enemy has turned to the so-called scorching ground tactics from Syria. It is destroying buildings and positions with air strikes and artillery fire.” Bakhmut continues.
The Ukrainian Military Intelligence Center said that Sersky, who oversaw the operation in the east, visited the front-line areas around Bakhmut on Sunday, where the most intense fighting was seen.
According to Reuters, Ukrainian forces resisted for several months in the small city of Pakhmut in the eastern Donetsk region, which it called a “meat grinder”, in which thousands of soldiers died in the fiercest battle of the all-out Moscow invasion in February 2022.
Ukraine claims that defending Bakhmut bought time to build up and restructure forces for the much-lauded spring offensive, inflicting heavy losses on Russian forces trying to seize control.
But Russian forces have made gains on Bakhmut’s flanks in recent weeks, threatening the main supply lines of Kiev’s defenders and also pushing towards the city.
