Ukrainian troops have pushed all Russian forces out of Klishchiivka, a tactically important town south of Bakhmut, according to multiple Ukrainian field reports on Friday. Although not officially confirmed, it would mean a local Kyiv victory after a grinding two-month battle in the hotly contested sector.
Fighters from the Belarusian volunteer unit Regiment of Kalinovsky had cleared the village with a pre-war population of 550, the Realna Viina reported, but there was no official confirmation.
Images published by the military information platform showed heavily armed infantry walking upright down a Klishchiivka street, against no opposition.
A Friday statement from a Chechen unit fighting on the Ukrainian side said that its troops pushed pro-Russian Chechens from the town as well.
The very pro-Russian military information platform Voenniy Osvemitel on Friday afternoon confirmed Russian forces had been "forced out of Klishchiivka after heavy battles".
A report on the tactical situation said: "It is absolutely premature to speak about any kind of encirclement of Bakhmut...However, the situation on the southern flank has become more dangerous now."
One Kremlin-loyal Chechen formation, a security unit called Akhmat, took heavy casualties before being put to flight, the pro-Ukrainian group Oplot Ichkeria said. Official Ukrainian sources said fighting was taking place around Klishchiivka.
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Ukrainian official spokespersons and Russian information platforms on Friday widely confirmed Ukrainian capture and full control of the smaller village of Andriivka – some two kilometers to the south of Klishchiivka.
A statement from the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) regular unit 3rd Assault Brigade said its troops “destroyed” elements of Russia’s 72nd Separate Motor Rifle Brigade in capturing the village and terrain around it.
A majority of the Third Assault Brigade are from greater Kyiv, where a predecessor unit to the brigade was raised at the start of the war. The formation is digging in Andriivka and planning further attack operations, a unit statement said.
A Friday statement from one of the 3rd Brigade’s sub-units, the first assault battalion, said that during the battle for Andriivka its troops “liquidated” four senior commanders in the Russian 72nd Brigade including three battalion commanders and the Brigade’s chief of reconnaissance. Russian enlisted soldiers lost dead and wounded in Andriivka were substantial, but exact numbers would be announced later, the unit statement said.
Kyiv Post could not confirm the claims directly, but some soldiers in the Ukrainian brigade on personal social media reported 3rd Brigade’s attacks on Andriivka were successful and that Ukrainian troop morale was good.
Russian sources described the loss of Andriivka as a retrograde that improved the tactical stance of Kremlin forces, and some accounts claimed portions of the village were uncontrolled by either army. Drone images published by the Ukrainian reporter Andriy Tsaplienko showed practically every building in the village fully flattened. The approximately 100 civilians formerly living there moved out months ago, he wrote.
Ukrainian capture of Klishchiivka, if confirmed, would signal more erosion of Russian defenses and new advances by Kyiv’s forces to the south of Bakhmut.
The Kremlin, in fighting from January-May 2023, according to its own statements, lost at least 25,000 men capturing Bakhmut. Klishchiivka is on high ground overlooking access routes into Bakhmut.
The next wave of Ukrainian attacks in the Bakhmut sector will probably target the village Kudryumivka, to the south of Andriivka, because the AFU is likely to try and build on its success by widening its push to the south of the city, Tsaplienko said.
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