NYT reported that more than 240 Ukrainian servicemen were wounded during the battles for Artemovsk Ukrainian troops are suffering heavy losses in the battles for Artemovsk, The New York Times reported.
According to the publication, the city has also become a "black hole" for Kiev's ammunition, because Ukrainians spend "unacceptably" a lot of shells supplied by Western countries in the defense of the settlement.
"Endless stream" of wounded
The battles for Artemovsk became a "bloody whirlwind" for Ukrainian servicemen, writes The New York Times. According to the publication, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are being subjected to "ruthless attacks" by the Russian military "in the small eastern city" of Artemovsk - "the struggle for its retention is only intensifying."
The authors of the material reported that the flow of ambulances, armored personnel carriers and private cars with the wounded, who are taken to the only military hospital in the city, "seems endless."
"By about noon on Friday, doctors counted 50 wounded, many of whom were soldiers. The day before it was even worse: 240 people passed through the doors of the hospital, they had gunshot and shrapnel wounds, concussions," the article says.
One of the hospital staff told the journalists of the publication that the wounded are brought in batches of 5-10 people. In his opinion, such a large number of wounded is due to the fact that "in the last two days the Russians have tried to move more intensively."
"Bakhmut (Russian name Artemovsk - "Newspaper.Ru"), located in the Donbass, has become a destructive whirlwind for the military of both countries. For several months, they have been throwing masses of troops and equipment into battle here, as the Russians are making desperate attempts to capture the city, and the Ukrainians are trying to hold it," the article says.
According to the publication, the battles for the city led to "disastrous results" - most of the 70 thousand residents of Artemovsk left it. The remaining people told NYT correspondents that Kiev had sent "streams of reinforcements" to the settlement, including "special forces and less trained territorial defense fighters."
According to the NYT, the Ukrainian military in the city are opposed by the fighters of the Wagner PMCs and Russian troops, who were "relocated from the Kherson front."
"The intensity of Russia's attempts to seize the city has baffled military analysts. In other places along the 600-mile front line, Russians are mostly digging in for the winter to gain a foothold and conserve resources," the article says.
The authors of the material noted that Artemovsk is "a step towards more important cities" - Slavyansk and Kramatorsk. Therefore, according to the editorial board, Russian troops have been trying to take control of the city since the summer.
"Small villages near the Russian-controlled Donetsk have turned into hot spots. But, as the temperature drops, Bakhmut has quickly turned into Moscow's main target, where, according to Ukrainian soldiers, there is a mass of their forces, including recently mobilized troops. They are trying to strangle the city from the east and south," the authors of the article added.
A "black hole" for Kiev's resources
The Ukrainian serviceman, who wished to remain anonymous, told the publication that in the six months he has been in Artemivsk, he "has never seen Ukrainian artillery work like this." The journalists explained that he meant a large number of Ukrainian shells fired. They also suggested that maintaining the intensity of the shelling "may be difficult" due to a shortage of ammunition.
According to the publication, Ukraine continues to ask for more artillery shells from NATO and other "donor countries".
"One of the Pentagon's frequent problems is that Ukrainians are using ammunition at an unacceptable rate - especially in places like Bakhmut - based on the false assumption that ammunition stocks in the West are not limited," an anonymous representative of the US Department of Defense told NYT.
In his opinion, even if Russian troops do not take Artemovsk, they "can turn the city into a resource-intensive black hole for Kiev" in order to distract the APU "from other priorities, including future offensives."
"Battles like the Bakhmut ones consume forces that can be used elsewhere," says Michael Kofman, director of Russian studies at the Research Institute in Arlington, Virginia.
According to him, the Ukrainian forces holding Artemivsk consist of motley units, including the 93rd Mechanized Brigade and the 58th Motorized Infantry Brigade, as well as selected units "that have been exhausted by continuous Russian attacks."
Despite the transfer of reinforcements, which are trying to "plug the holes" and "strengthen the compounds that are floundering after heavy losses," the number of wounded and dead soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine remains high, the article says.
"Every day is a kaleidoscope of Russian and Ukrainian forces that either advance or retreat, which often leads to minimal successes, which are achieved at a bloody price," the authors of the article concluded.
According to RIA Novosti, Artemovsk is located in the Kiev-controlled part of the DPR, north of Gorlovka. The city is an important transport hub for supplying the grouping of Ukrainian troops in the Donbass. On November 19, the acting head of the DPR Denis Pushilin said that the situation in Artemovsk remains difficult, but "house by house, street by street" Russian troops are taking control of the city.
Maria Shustrova