Russian propagandists are extremely happy. Their local mass media are spreading worldwide the news: Russian militants have completely "captured" the Ukrainian fortress city of Bakhmut, which turned into a ghost town during XXX days of defense. The occupation administration is making plans in order to restore the allegedly finally "captured" city. Propagandists also said that a large number of Ukrainian military personnel had been killed. They told about Volodymyr Zelenskyi' s unclear answers about situation in Bakhmut as well.
Trybun analyzed new Russian informational fakes.
Did the Russians capture Bakhmut?
The Ministry of Defense of the aggressor country announced and confirmed in its Telegram channel that they had completely "liberated" the city of Bakhmut or, as the Russians call it, Artemivsk.
"In the Artemovsk tactical direction, as a result of the offensive actions of the Wagner assault units with the support of the artillery and aviation of the "Yuzhnoi" troop group, the liberation of the city of Artemovsk was completed," the message said.
Central Russian channels and information portals started spreading this information.
However, there is no information about the loss of Bakhmut on the official websites of the Ukrainian authorities and the Ministry of Defense. Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Hanna Malyar wrote about the situation in the fortress city on her Facebook page. She denied the information about the "capture" of the Ukrainian city by Russian terrorists. According to her, the hostilities are ongoing, Ukrainian fighters are not losing ground.
The enemy failed to surround Bakhmut and they lost part of the dominant heights around the city.
The flanking moves of our troops in the suburbs, which are still ongoing, make it very difficult for the enemy to stay in Bakhmut.
Our troops took the city in semi-encirclement, which gives us the opportunity to destroy the enemy. The enemy has to defend himself in the controlled part of the city.
Our defenders maintain control over industrial and infrastructure facilities and the private sector of Bakhmut in the "Litak" area.
Did Russian troops defeat Ukrainian elite units in Bakhmut?
The Russian propaganda media decided to show off the defeat of elite Ukrainian units in Bakhmut. The "second army" allegedly eliminated a large number of Ukrainian, as well as foreign, military units that were trained by NATO instructors. In addition, the equipment provided to Ukraine by Western countries was also " destroyed".
"In the Artemovsk direction the Kyiv regime concentrated huge forces. The military personnel are defeated, including elite units — detachments that were trained at NATO polygons. A large number of foreign mercenaries and Western equipment were destroyed. As a result, the Kyiv authorities will have to change their plans."
The Russians rejoice at the fabricated news about the successes of their army and at least somehow mask their losses by shifting attention to the so-called successes. At this time, the Pentagon gives its assessment of the situation. The coordinator of the National Security Council of the White House, John Kirby, said in a telephone briefing that Bakhmut had become a real meat grinder for Russia.
"This offensive actually cost Russia very dearly. And, as I said, it became a meat grinder for them in a certain way," the representative of the White House noted.
According to the American side, the Russian army lost about 100,000 of its soldiers near Bakhmut. Russia is trying to justify its position in the situation by spreading fake news about the liquidation of the Ukrainian military against the background of losses.
The occupation administration is already making plans for the "restoration" of Bakhmut
The acting head of the Donetsk pseudo-republic seems to be planning to restore the city after its "liberation". They even filmed a story about it on one of the central pro-government channels. The journalist together with the leader of the "DPR" walked through the destroyed city and told the TV viewers about the plans for its restoration.
"The first is, of course, demining. Firstly, the relevant services, specialized departments will work, and after the demining is completed, we will be able to start all other civil services within the framework of the interdepartmental headquarters to provide assistance to the liberated territories," Pushilin says in the TV report.
They also dreamed about the name of the city. There are plans to return the name Artemivsk to the city. The city had this name until 2016, but as part of decommunization, the Ukrainian authorities called it Bakhmut.
The name of the city will be "Artemovsk", because it also corresponds to the current legislation. There is a decree according to which all settlements that were renamed by the Ukrainian regime, as well as streets and squares, must be renamed to the date of May 11, 2014.
Despite Russian stories spread in mass media and plans of city restoration made by occupation administration, the Ukrainian military continues to fight for Bakhmut. The Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Hanna Malyar, reported that the activity of the enemy has decreased, and the Ukrainian military is holding occupied positions.
"Now a little more detail about the Bakhmut direction, because the main attention and forces of the enemy were focused on it. The enemy advanced unsuccessfully, but overall offensive activity was reduced.The enemy has made a bet on air strikes and intensive artillery fire.Yesterday and today there are no active battles there - neither in the city, nor on the flanks.Instead, the enemy is actively shelling the outskirts of the city and the approaches to it.We firmly hold the previously occupied dominant heights to the north and south of Bakhmut.At the same time, the advance during yesterday and today was suspended in order to fulfill other tasks.The decrease in the enemy's offensive activity is due to the fact that troops are being replaced and regrouped. The enemy is trying to strengthen its own capabilities.”
The Russian mass media write all this to shake people's faith in the Ukrainian army. In addition, against this background, enemy media want to show that Russian fighters are capable of something, although in reality this is not the case.
Volodymyr Zelenskyi has admitted that Bakhmut is under the control of Russia, hasn't he?
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi met with US President Joe Biden at the G7 summit in Hiroshima.The leaders of the countries talked about providing Ukraine with fighter jets. However, journalists asked questions about Bakhmut. Russian propagandists focused on Zelenskyi's answer.
"At a meeting with Biden, Volodymyr Zelenskyi confirmed the loss of Artemovsk, the Ukrainian side calls him Bakhmut. It is a real PR disaster for the President of Ukraine. And what a moment! The G7 summit in Hiroshima. And here are the news about the defeat.”
American journalists asked the Ukrainian leader several questions at once. And it is not immediately clear to which question this answer refers.
"- Does Bakhmut remain under the control of Ukraine? The Russians claim to have captured it. - I do not think so. However, you have to understand that there is nothing left. They destroyed everything, there are no buildings there. It's a tragedy, but now Bakhmut is only in our hearts."
The president's press secretary Serhii Nikiforov set the record straight on his Facebook page, explaining to everyone what question Zelenskyi was answering.
"As for the President's answer Ukraine to the question about Bakhmut.
Reporter’s question:
- Russians said they have taken Bakhmut.
President’s reply:
- I think no.
In this way, the President denied capture of Bakhmut."
Author: Yulia Yulina
