Bitter fighting in Bakhmut as Putin visits occupied Ukraine

Kyiv [Ukraine], April 19: Heavy fighting continues over the now-destroyed city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, as Russian troops attack from the air with heavy artillery, Ukrainian and British officials said on Tuesday. "There is a realistic possibility that Russia has reduced troop numbers and is decreasing offensive action around Donetsk city, most likely to divert resources toward the Bakhmut sector," the British Defence Ministry wrote in its daily Ukraine update on Twitter.
OleksandrSyrskyi, the commander of the Ukrainian land forces, reported heavy fighting in Bakhmut as Russian troops attacked from the air with heavy artillery. However, he said, "the situation is under control at this point." The British Defence Ministry said the mercenary Wagner Group forces and the regular Russian army "continue to make creeping advances", but Ukraine is generally holding off their advancement from the south.
Strategically both sides have to weigh a drawdown of forces from Bakhmut, the tweet said. For the Ukrainian military, it is about getting enough forces to launch the expected spring offensive while Russian forces likely want to regenerate their reserves. Syrskyi predicted that Ukrainian forces would inflict heavy losses on the enemy and "noticeably slow down" the Russian attack.
Meanwhile, a statement from the Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin had travelled again to the war zone in Ukraine. This is his second trip since the Ukraine invasion. A few weeks ago, his appearance in Mariupol in the Donetsk region caused a sensation. Mariupol became a symbol of brutal aggression and destruction in the first weeks of the war. Putin met Russian troops fighting in the regions of Kherson and Luhansk, said a statement published in Moscow on Tuesday. In Kherson in occupied southern Ukraine, he was briefed by the commander of the airborne troops, Colonel General Mikhail Teplinsky.
In Luhansk in the east, the 70-year-old Kremlin leader met Colonel General Alexander Lapin and other high-ranking officers. The Kremlin also released a short video showing Putin getting out of a helicopter and shaking hands with uniformed men.
According to the Kremlin, Putin was not accompanied by Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov or Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, due to security precautions. Peskov said it was too much of a "risk" to have the three men responsible for military decisions travelling together. He also gave the Russian soldiers an icon given the Orthodox Easter celebration last weekend, the Kremlin announced.The exact date of the troop visit was not disclosed. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it had taken place on Monday while independent Russian media estimated the trip took place last week, due to the video footage showing Putin saying, "Now it will be Easter." The second video version available now, however, sees Putin saying "Now it's Easter." Putin was in Moscow over the weekend and took part in an Easter service by Patriarch Kirill.
Ukrainian President VolodymyrZelensky also travelled to the war zone, to the fiercely contested town of Avdiivka in the east, according to Ukrainian sources. Zelensky said on Monday evening that his military was currently clarifying the need for weapons and ammunition ahead of another meeting of Western allies at the Ramstein military base in Germany on April 21.
"And we expect to make solid decisions that will match the prospects on the battlefield," said Zelensky. He spoke of "quite ambitious prospects that we intend to approach to the best of our ability." International pressure on Russia from Western powers has not diminished since the invasion.
In Japan, foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) industrialized nations said they "remain committed to intensifying sanctions against Russia, coordinating and fully enforcing them ... and countering Russia's and third parties' attempt to evade and undermine our sanctions measures." "We reiterate our call on third parties to cease assistance to Russia's war, or face severe costs," the ministers said in a joint statement adopted after a meeting in Karuizawa. The G7 again called on Russia to withdraw immediately and unconditionally from Ukraine.
Source: Qatar Tribune