Bakhmut Has Become Russian 'Slaughter-Fest,' Says U.S. General

The fiercely contested Ukrainian city of Bakhmut has become a "slaughter-fest" for the Russian forces attempting to capture the city, according to the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Speaking to lawmakers on the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday, General Mark Milley said Russian forces had not made progress through the ruined Donetsk settlement in the past three weeks.

"It's a slaughter-fest for the Russians," Milley said. "They're getting hammered in the vicinity of Bahkmut and the Ukrainians have fought very, very well."

The eastern Donbas city of Bakhmut has long been a focus of Ukrainian and Russian military efforts, destroying the city and largely emptying it of its inhabitants. Ukraine has committed to holding off Moscow's soldiers and Wagner Group mercenary fighters there, despite heavy losses on both sides.

On Wednesday, the Russian defense ministry said that up to 310 Ukrainian fighters had been killed in the Donetsk region, but it didn't specify reported losses around Bakhmut.

Russian forces are "conducting combat operations right now in Bakhmut primarily," Milley said. "It's probably about 6,000 or so actual mercenaries and maybe another 20 or 30,000 recruits that they get, many of whom come from prisons."

On Wednesday evening, Ukraine's General Staff of the Armed Forces said that Russian forces had "partial success" in their attempts to seize Bakhmut. "However, Ukrainian defenders are courageously holding the city as they repel numerous enemy attacks," the General Staff added in an update at 6 p.m. local time.

On Thursday, the General Staff then reported "further attempts" to capture the city, with Ukrainian forces repelling 28 attacks on Wednesday.

Russian forces advanced in southern and southwestern Bakhmut on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War think tank said on Wednesday.

Also on Wednesday, the British defense ministry said Moscow's assaults on Bakhmut were "still at a reduced level compared to recent weeks." Writing on Twitter, the ministry cast doubt on Russian reports that Wagner Group recruits had captured the AZOM factory complex, located to the north of Bakhmut's center.

However, as of Tuesday, Wagner forces "likely occupied" the complex, the ISW said on Wednesday.

Should Bakhmut fall, Russian President Vladimir Putin would "sell this victory to the West, to his society, to China, to Iran," Ukraine's President, Volodymyr Zelensky, said on Tuesday.

If Putin "will feel some blood — smell that we are weak — he will push, push, push," Zelensky told the Associated Press.

Earlier this month, Zelensky visited Bakhmut, writing on Telegram that he was "honored" to visit to "award our heroes."

He made the trip to "shake hands and thank them for protecting the sovereignty of our country," he added.

Newsweek has reached out to the Russian defense ministry for comment via email.