Fighting in Bakhmut is 'Very Tough', Admits Putin's Spokesman

The battle for Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine has been very difficult, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview published on Wednesday.

Russia is confident that its troops will eventually be able to capture the industrial city in Ukraine's Donbas region, but the battle for Bakhmut has been "emotional," Peskov told the Bosnian Serb broadcaster ATV.

Russian soldiers have been attempting to seize Bakhmut since the summer of 2022 alongside fighters from Yevgeny Prigozhin's paramilitary outfit, the Wagner Group. Prigozhin, a Russian tycoon and an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has threatened to withdraw from the region on multiple occasions due to a lack of ammunition.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington D.C.-based think tank, said in an assessment published Thursday that Ukrainian forces likely broke through some Russian lines in counterattacks near Bakhmut. It cited Ukrainian Eastern Group of Forces Commander Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi as saying that Russian forces "retreated up to two kilometers behind Russian lines in unspecified sectors of the Bakhmut front."

Moscow has meanwhile denied reports of Ukrainian breakthroughs in the fight for the city. The "overall situation in the area of the special military operation is under control," Russia's Defense Ministry said.

"We have no doubt that [Bakhmut] will be taken, it will continue to be held," the Kremlin spokesman said, declining to elaborate on future military tactics and strategy, which he said is "the prerogative of the military."

"I cannot interfere in this," he said.

Peskov was asked to respond to earlier warnings from Prigozhin that the Wagner Group would withdraw from Bakhmut on May 10 due to a shortage of ammunition.

He responded that he could not comment on the course of what Russia continues to call its "special military operation" in Ukraine.

"But I can tell you one thing: Yes, indeed, [it's] quite an emotional situation. Very tough offensive operations are being carried out there...Therefore, of course, emotions are running high there," said Peskov.

He said Russia is waging a "very difficult" military campaign in its neighboring country.

"It's a very, very difficult operation and of course, certain goals have been achieved in a year," Peskov said. "We managed to shake up the Ukrainian war machine quite a bit."

He said all units involved in the conflict have a united goal. "I will not name different names, but I will say: no matter what is said, no matter what statements are made, we are still talking about, let's say, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. These are all Russian forces, unified forces. And they pursue one single goal," said Peskov.

Prigozhin has blamed Russia's military leadership and its apparent lack of support for the deaths of his fighters in Bakhmut.

Earlier this month, he published a heated video aimed at Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, saying that "in the absence of ammunition" his fighters are "doomed to a senseless death."

"The enemy forces outnumber us five times," said Prigozhin. "Due to the lack of ammunition, our losses are growing exponentially every day."

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