Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin:
[ColonelCassad] Reports about the capture of the city center and city administration are still ahead of events. Assault groups of PMC "Wagner" slowly push through the enemy's defenses and go deep into the city center. Before the administration in the morning it was 200-250 meters.
The enemy puts up fierce resistance despite heavy losses. Also ahead of the events are reports of an exit to the southwestern entrance of the city and the ruins of a monument to pilots. The enemy is also fiercely defending in the southwestern quarters, there are no signs of the collapse of the defense here yet. There is a slow breaking of the defense.
Despite the worsening weather, the assault on city blocks continues. PMC "Wagner" controls more than 70% of the city. Fighting is taking place to the south of the monument to the pilots at the southwestern entrance to the city, in the central districts of the city and in the southern part of the AZOM industrial zone.
Good news from the central districts of Artemovsk can be expected in the next week.
To the northwest of the city, fighting continues near Orekhovo-Vasilyevka, Bogdanovka and Khromovo. These settlements are still held by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Deteriorating weather complicates the conduct of active operations. The road through Khromovo is still under the tight fire control of the Wagner PMC. The main movement of the enemy passes to the south.
Taking into account the cold snap, it became a little easier to use the primer and the fields for the enemy, but after the coming warming, everything will be carried there again.
At the same time, the threat of a counterattack from Chasov Yar and Rai-Aleksandrovka did not disappear in order to unblock the road through Khromovo or the highway to Slavyansk. It is no coincidence that Prigogine reminds of the need to watch the flanks. The RF Armed Forces have recently reinforced the flanks to the north and south of Artemovsk, in case of counterattacks by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
To the south-west of the city, fighting continued near Krasnoe, as well as to the west of Kleshcheevka and Kurdyumovka. There is no significant progress yet.
The road through Krasnoe is under our fire control. The enemy's counter-attacks failed to clear this road, although he managed to prevent the loss of Krasnoye, at least for the time being.
More from Boris Rozhin:
Commentary by Russian military correspondent Kharchenko
About the atmosphere of Bakhmut
[ColonelCassad] The atmosphere in Bahmut is unlike anything else. Evaporation of the earth is mixed with powder gases, the smell of diesel fuel and bandages soaked in blood, and all this infernal bouquet beats right into the brain.
Sometimes it gets ill, but these are rather the consequences of sprinting throws that have to move in this inhospitable place.
But most of all I was struck by the acceptance of death that comes after five days of continuous being on the front lines. Death here envelops you from all sides and eventually forms a comfortable cocoon that protects your consciousness from overload. Corpses are everywhere. Here they pull out their two hundredth funeral team in their arms. But as soon as you turn the corner, three Ukrainians are already lying here, covered with a direct hit. Their corpses become a kind of landmarks.
More than once I heard phrases like: "You get to that pi ** ra without legs, and go away from him to the left, and there 300 meters and you will be with me." "P**ry is the international slang of the NWO. And we and they call each other that. Well, after that, how not to call everything that happens a civil war?
Stormtroopers operating in Bakhmut have long accepted the opportunity for themselves to back up in the next roll (assault). The death or injury of new friends is no longer taken to heart. This information is hidden in the depths of consciousness and just move on. Soaking in the atmosphere of Bakhmut, I realized that only in this state does a soldier turn into an attack aircraft. Other fighters are trying to survive, but here they want to win. These are completely different motivations, but this can only be understood at the forefront after several assaults. There is no fear and never will be. If you're scared, you're dead. So they say and think in Bakhmut, and this axiom works.
(c) Alexander Kharchenko