According to its president Volodymyr Zelensky, the military leadership of Ukraine does not want to give up the city of Bakhmut in the east of the country, which has been fiercely fought over for weeks. He asked the commander of the units in the region and the chief of staff how to proceed there, Zelenskyj said in his nightly video message on Monday.
“Both generals replied that they would not withdraw. Instead, the defenses will be strengthened,” the Ukrainian president said. Recently, there were indications of a possible withdrawal by the defenders. Some observers believe that Kiev has withdrawn some of its forces from the city, which has been heavily contested for months, the Ukrainian army may be considering a controlled withdrawal, it said, with British intelligence in London even assuming Ukraine wanted to destroy strategic bridges near the city.
Ukrainian and Russian troops have been fighting over the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut since last summer, and thousands of soldiers have been killed in the battle so far. The place is now surrounded on three sides. But her fall would be more symbolic than strategic.
Industrial city lies in rubble and ashes
Artillery fire that has been going on for months has devastated large parts of Bakhmut and forced almost all residents of the small industrial town to flee. In the battle for the city, the Russian army and the Wagner mercenaries send poorly trained recruits to the front as “cannon fodder”. Western sources estimate that hundreds of soldiers are injured or killed every day in the “meat grinder Bakhmut”.
Military experts attach little or no strategic importance to Bakhmut. “The battle for Bachmut has cost enormous amounts of military and human resources,” said former Australian Major General Mick Ryan of the US think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). The case of the former industrial city is pointless “if other functions are preserved”.
Symbolic meaning for both sides
The longer the battle for Bakhmut lasted, the greater the symbolic importance of the small town, which was home to about 70,000 people before the war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited it last December and talked about the “Bakhmut Fortress”.
Source: Krone
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