Russian advance in Bakhmut could come with heavy losses: U.K. military officials

Russian forces have advanced in the eastern city of Bakhmut but they risk further harsh losses if they push ahead, officials said

Russian forces have made progress in the front-line hotspot of Bakhmut, a key target of Moscow’s monthslong campaign in eastern Ukraine that has resulted in staggering casualties, but their assault will be difficult to sustain without further harsh losses, U.K. military officials said in an assessment on March 11.

The U.K. Defense Ministry said in the latest of its regular Twitter updates that units from the Kremlin-controlled paramilitary Wagner Group have captured most of eastern Bakhmut, with a river flowing through the city centre now marking the front line.

However, the update added, it will be “highly challenging” for Wagner forces to push ahead, as Ukraine has destroyed key bridges over the river, while Ukrainian sniper fire from fortified buildings further west has made the thin strip of open ground in the center “a killing zone”.

At the same time, Ukrainian troops and supply lines in the mining city remain vulnerable to “continued Russian attempts to outflank the defenders from the north and south”, as Russian forces try to close in on them in a pincer movement, the Ministry said.

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Meanwhile, Russian military bloggers and other pro-Kremlin Telegram accounts on Friday claimed that Russian forces have entered a metal processing plant in northwestern Bakhmut. A Washington-based think tank late on Friday also referenced geolocated footage showing Russian forces within 800 meters of the AZOM plant, a heavily built-up and fortified complex.

The Institute for the Study of War assessed that Moscow’s apparent focus on capturing the plant, rather than opting for a “wider encirclement of western Bakhmut” by attempting to take nearby villages, is likely to bring a further wave of Russian casualties.