Ukraine plans counter-offense on Russian troops in Bakhmut

The Ukrainian military will launch a highly anticipated counter-attack “very soon,” one of the top ground forces commanders said Thursday — as Russia loses momentum in Bakhmut.

Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, indicated a counter-offense would soon strike the fatigued Russian forces in Bakhmut.

Russia’s Wagner mercenaries are “losing considerable strength and are running out of steam,” Syrskyi said on social media.

“Very soon, we will take advantage of this opportunity, as we did in the past near Kyiv, Kharkiv, Balakliya and Kupiansk,” he said.

Last year, Ukraine launched counter-offensives in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Kalakliya and Kupiansk that ended up being major turning points in the war and getting Ukraine back significant land.

Despite their soldiers dwindling in strength and size, Russia has not seemed to become deterred, Syrskyi noted.

“The aggressor does not give up hope at any price to take Bakhmut, regardless of the losses in manpower or equipment,” he said.

Syrskyi stated that even as Ukrainian troops are under constant fire from Russian artillery, they continue to demonstrate “superman resilience, courage and bravery,” Ukrainian newspaper Ukrainska Pravda reported.

In a Ukrainian-held village on Bakhmut’s northern outskirts, the intensity of Russian forces had gone down considerably.

“It was really hot here a week ago, but in the last three days it has been more quiet,” a Ukrainian soldier told Reuters.

Russia’s weakened attack on Bakhmut, once a key focus of Russia’s offensive, may also be a result of troops and resources being sent to other areas.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited troops defending Bakhmut earlier this week before touring the frontline provinces in the Kherson region on Thursday.

He shared a video of him meeting residents in the war-torn village of Posad Pokrovske, located on the former Kherson front line, and promised residents they would soon rebuild.

“We will restore everything, we will rebuild everything. Just like with every city and village that suffered because of the occupiers,” he wrote.

News of the Ukrainian counter-attack comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted his “dear friend” Chinese President Xi Jinping in Moscow this week.

The communist leader drew criticism for trying to appear as a peacemaker while barely mentioning the war in Ukraine during their three-day meeting.

After Xi left Moscow on Wednesday, Putin sent drones across northern Ukraine and blasted an apartment block in Zaporizhzhia with missiles, killing at least one person.

At least nine people were killed in the air strikes as of Thursday.