Situation near Bakhmut: enemy shells Ukrainian positions almost 400 times, 11 firefights take place

Serhiy Cherevaty, Spokesperson for the Eastern Group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said this on the air of the United News telethon, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"The situation there, in the Bakhmut sector, is complicated, probably the most difficult in all areas of the frontline today, but it is under control. The enemy strikes, 399 times they fired at our positions from various systems and calibers. 11 firefights took place, 105 occupants were killed, 104 were wounded, a Buk surface-to-air missile system, three cannons, one Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system and two field ammunition depots were destroyed," the spokesperson said.

Answering the question whether the enemy will be able to capture Bakhmut by May 9, Cherevaty said he had big doubts about it.

"Well, they are the world champions and probably the Guinness World Records for setting deadlines, they set the first deadline back in July. There is a positional war going on, very heavy fighting, but I would cast a very big doubt. They will not be able to make it to May 1, and it is unlikely that they will succeed beyond that. I believe in the Defense Forces and it will most likely be unrealistic for them," the spokesperson said.

Commenting on the massive enemy shelling of civilian targets in recent days, the spokesperson emphasized that he believes it is a manifestation of the enemy's desperation.

"When the enemy can't achieve anything on the battlefield, they strike at our peaceful cities. And this is a sign of despair and revenge, because they have not really shown any military training, any achievements and have not shown themselves as a worthy enemy," Cherevaty emphasized.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, the enemy's losses, which unsuccessfully tried to attack the positions of the Defense Forces at the Avdiivka and Maryinka directions 18 times over the last day, amounted to almost two companies killed and wounded.