You must be aware that there is an ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia right now, and this has been going on for the last 12 months as the anniversary of when this war started just passed by. The situation on both sides is not great as Russia is not in any mood to back down, and instead, they have increased the attacks on Ukraine. On the other hand, Ukraine is getting support from the US as well as other EU nations and this is the reason why they are also not in favor of peace talks with the Russian side.
Russia is on the offensive right now and if we go by the word of Russian Mercenary Chief then Ukraine’s Bakhmut region is about to be occupied by the Russian side. The Mercenary Chief from the Russian side says that the Ukrainian army now only has one exit option and all the other sides have been surrounded by the Russian army. Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of Russia’s Wagner Mercenary Force says that Bakmut is “practically surrounded” by his forces and there is only one route left for the Ukrainian army to make an exit.
The Russian Mercenary Army Chief also calls for the Ukraine President Zelensky to withdraw his army from the Bakhmut region, in a video that has gone viral, but it is unlikely that the Ukraine President will withdraw his army from there. In the video, the Mercenary Chief said “Units of the private military company Wagner have practically surrounded Bakhmut. Only one road is left (open to Ukrainian forces) The pincers are getting tighter,”
One thing worth noting is that the interior parts of Ukraine don’t have roads built and due to that reason, the mud and other factors are causing resistance for the Russian army. Also, the Russian Wagner group claims that they are having to fight children and old men rather than the Ukrainian army which they suggest is a tactic used by the Ukrainian side. Russian Mercenary Chief released a video showing his forces entering the Bakhmut region and Reuters confirmed this location as being just a mile away from the city centre.