Russia Inflicts Heavy Losses on Ukraine as Battle of Bakhmut Rages—Report

Moscow's forces have inflicted heavy losses on Ukrainian troops in the battle for Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, according to an assessment that comes as NATO warned the war could escalate into "full-fledged" conflict between Russia and the alliance.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said on Friday that Russian forces had conducted assault operations in Bakhmut itself and to the north and south of the city in the Donetsk oblast, which is the center of fierce fighting.

The ISW cited reports from Russian Telegram accounts that Ukraine's forces had "suffered heavy losses" and that Moscow's troops had struck forward Ukrainian positions northeast of the city.

The ISW added that that Russian forces "continue to push through Ukrainian defenses near Spirne," a village that is around 20 miles northeast of Bakhmut.

Donetsk's regional governor, Pavlo Kyrylenko, has said that Russian forces were pressing on Bakhmut with daily attacks, despite taking heavy casualties. "You can best describe those attacks as cannon fodder," he added in televised comments. "They are mostly relying on infantry and less on armor, and they can't advance."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address on Friday that the "occupiers actually destroyed Bakhmut, another Donbas city that the Russian army turned into burnt ruins."

The day before, Russian mercenary organization the Wagner Group reportedly successfully repelled Ukrainian counterattacks near Bakhmut, according to the ISW.

Governor of the neighboring Luhansk region, Serhiy Haidai, said the Ukrainian military was pushing its counteroffensive toward Kreminna and Svatove.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, there were reported of overnight shelling in the southern Kherson and the neighboring Zaporizhzhia regions.

Newsweek has contacted the Ukrainian and Russian defense ministries for comment.

With the war now in its winter months, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the fighting could escalate into a wider conflict between Russia and his alliance.

He told Norwegian broadcaster NRK that things "can go horribly wrong" in the conflict, which could spread "into a major war between NATO and Russia. We are working on that every day to avoid that."

Days after saying the war could be a "long-term process," Russian president Vladimir Putin told a press conference in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, about the possibility of a settlement to end the fighting.

"All participants in this process will have to agree with the realities that are taking shape on the ground," Putin said.

Meanwhile, the U.S. has expressed alarm at Russia's "full-scale defense partnership" with Iran, amid reports that Tehran was going to supply its ally with missiles, along with the drones it gives, which are being used to target Ukrainian infrastructure.