 Ukrainian troops, on the defensive for four months, will launch a long-awaited counter-assault very soon now that Russia's huge winter offensive is losing steam without taking Bakhmut, Ukraine's top ground forces commander set on March 23. Ukrainian soldier and blogger Andriy Bebichev published drone footage on his YouTube channel showing smoke billowing over residential blocks, as well as destroyed houses. The remarks by Colonel General Aleksander Sursky were the strongest indication yet from Kiev that it is close to shifting tactics, having absorbed Russia's onslaught through a brutal winter. Russia's Wagner mercenaries, trying to capture Bakhmut in what has become the longest and bloodiest battle of the war, are losing considerable strength and are running out of steam, Sursky said on the Telegram social media site.