Global Courant 2023-05-21 15:54:08
Ukrainian artillery teams fire on Russian positions in Bakhmut.Madeleine Kelly/Getty Images
A Ukrainian commander has contradicted suggestions about the poor state of Russian troops.
Andriy Biletsky, of the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade, said Russian soldiers were not “dumb”.
The comments come as President Zelensky said Bakhmut was completely devastated.
The commander of a Ukrainian brigade fighting at the front in Bakhmut has rejected the idea that Russian soldiers are ill-equipped and unhappy.
In a video posted on TelegramAndriy Biletsky, a commander of Ukraine’s 3rd Separate Assault Brigade, said the recent victories were not for “an easy price”.
The enemy is not as stupid and miserable as some experts make it out to be,” Biletsky said.
He added: “The enemy is stubborn and cruel. But we are moving forward. We are gnawing every meter of Ukrainian land. Slava Ukraini!”
Biletsky’s comments contradict many previous analyzes of the Russian military, which tend to suggest troops are poorly equipped, lack of trainingand suffering of low morale.
The Telegram video comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy admitted that Bakhmut, a city in eastern Ukraine where Russian and Ukrainian forces very brutal battlewas completely destroyed.
“They destroyed everything. There are no buildings. It’s a shame. It’s a tragedy,” Zelenskyy said during a Sunday meeting with President Joe Biden. at the G7 summit in Hiroshima.
“For today, Bakhmut is only in our hearts,” he added.
Zelensky’s office later clarified that he did not mean that the city had fallen to Russian troops BBC reported.
The 3rd Separate Assault Brigade of Ukraine in action
Helmet camera footage of Ukrainian fighters at the front.@11Knuk123 Twitter screenshot
Meanwhile, Ukraine said so progress made on the flanks around Bakhmut, where Biletsky’s 3rd Separate Assault Brigade has seen action.
Recent helmet cam footage from the brigade captures the reality of the fierce fightingwith a smoky ruin of Russian trenches littered with corpses after the unit launched a series of surprise counter-attacks.
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Insider’s Isobel Van Hagen reports that the video shows Ukrainian soldiers throwing grenades, firing their weapons and advancing on Russian positions.
In his video, Biletsky described the battles earlier this week against the Russian 72nd Brigade and the so-called “Storm Z”.
He described hard-fought victories that killed “more than 50” Russians and the capture of “many trophies: equipment, weapons and prisoners”.
The British Ministry of Defence announced additional Russian troops had probably been sent to Bakhmut to fight the Kiev advance.
The intelligence briefing stated that the Russian leadership “is likely to continue to view the capture of Bakhmut as the main immediate war objective”, which will “enable them to claim a degree of success in the conflict”.
Read the original article Business Insider
