Battered Russians FLEEING Bakhmut after Ukrainians use meatgrinder city to lure them ‘like rats into a mousetrap’

UKRAINE has described fleeing Russian soldiers as “rats climbing into a mousetrap” in bomb-blitzed Bakhmut. Vladimir Putin’s humiliated troops are on the retreat in the region, where Ukraine launched a counter attack last week.  APUkrainian soldiers fire a cannon near Bakhmut in their campaign against Wagner soldiers[/caption] ReutersBakhmut has seen the war’s longest and bloodiest battle so far[/caption] Putin’s humiliated troops are retreating along the north and south of the city’s suburbs Kyiv says its tactic in the “meatgrinder” battle is to draw Putin’s troops in and weaken their front line defences elsewhere. Ukraine’s 3rd Assault Brigade used tanks and infantry to advance 1,000 yards across farmland south of the city in the last few days as panic spread through Russian lines. Bakhmut has seen the war’s longest and bloodiest battle so far, as Ukraine’s spring counteroffensive looms. The Sun’s Jerome Starkey described it as a ‘World War One-style hellscape of craters, barbed wire and battlefield trenches’ as he reported from a secret underground bunker this week. It comes as Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin was forced to admit that failing Russian forces are “unlikely” to claim victory on Bakhmut in the coming days. “Bakhmut is unlikely to be completely taken tomorrow or the day after tomorrow,” Prigozhin wrote on Telegram, reporting heavy fighting in the southwestern suburbs of the city. Kyiv’s commander of land forces, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, said in a video posted to social media “Wagner troops climbed into Bakhmut like rats into a mousetrap”, Reuters reports. He told Ukraine troops this week: “The enemy has more resources, but we are destroying his plans.” Ukraine Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said Kyiv has made advances of about a kilometre in the northern and southern suburbs of the city. The Sun’s Jerome Starkey described the battle as a ‘World War One-style hellscape’ Ukraine’s 3rd Assault Brigade are using tanks and armoured infantry to smash through Putin’s front lines Russian troops flee a Ukrainian advance as they retreat from areas in Bakhmut Ukraine also said on Tuesday that its forces had retaken 20 square kilometres (7.7 square miles) in the north and south of the outskirts of Bakhmut. But Russia continues to blast its way forward in the besieged city, ahead of Kyiv’s planned counterassault, and has resumed missile and drone strikes across Ukraine this month. Kyiv has said its forces in have advanced in some places by over a mile in the brutal battleground. The battle for the city in the Donbas region is the bloodiest and longest since the Russian invasion began on February 24, 2022. THE BATTLE FOR BAKHMUT THE year-long Battle for Bakhmut is the bloodiest clash in Europe since World War Two. Tens of thousands of soldiers have died in the contested eastern city.Russia launched its ground assault in August, after months of shelling. Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed his troops were then sent in to bolster Russian efforts. But he missed his own deadlines last year to seize the town — and is threatening to retreat without more ammunition. Russian forces came close to encircling the city in March but have since beaten a retreat. On Tuesday, Ukraine’s Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said troops had won back 12 miles of surrounding land. But she added: “The enemy is advancing somewhat in the city itself.”