Situation in Bakhmut is extremely difficult for Russians now – military expert Svitan

He shared the information on Espreso TV.

"In Bakhmut, Russian troops stopped their offensive and stuck to the heights. Part of the heights starts in the southwestern districts of the city, that is, there is a road from Kostiantynivka and enters Bakhmut, where the airplane monument is located. This part of Bakhmut is located on the heights that are occupied by Ukrainian forces. And Russians have stopped advancing because they are stuck against these heights and are under fire from our artillery," said the military expert.

Roman Svitan explained that the dominant heights in Bakhmut are several tens of meters higher, which allows Ukraine to keep almost the entire city under fire control. Ukrainian artillerymen can even aim visually through binoculars, seeing the first explosion, and after adjusting, the second will be accurately on target.

"The situation in Bakhmut is still very difficult for Russians. Prigozhin's organized criminal group is trying to leave the city. Since May 10, Wagner mercenaries have been leaving in small groups, and units of the 1st LPR/DPR Corps have been replacing them on a rotational basis. These are old soldiers who have been trying to steal Donbas from us for 10 years since 2014. That is, they are being brought there for utilization instead of Prigozhin's organized crime group. Accordingly, the total number of Russian troops in Bakhmut is not increasing, and they are not as active as the Wagner PMC were. And Ukrainian forces are moving in an active mode with counterattacks, surrounding Bakhmut. At least in the direction of semi-encircling the city, because it is impossible to completely surround Bakhmut on the heights. We are advancing, Bakhmut is ours. We control this line, if we are talking about the Bakhmut line. At the moment, there is a positive tendency of advancing, but not too deep yet," Svitan said.

• The founder of Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, announced the beginning of the withdrawal of its units from Bakhmut. This was confirmed by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

• On May 26, Rodion Kudriashov, deputy commander of the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade, said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces were advancing in the area of Klishchiivka near Bakhmut.