Kiev, March 15, (dpa/GNA) – Ukraine’s military leadership on Tuesday, resolved to not surrender the besieged eastern city of Bakhmut to Russian forces.
All members of the top command unanimously agreed to continue defending the city, after months of intense fighting, the office of President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
“The defensive operation in this area is of the highest strategic importance to repel the enemy,” army chief Valery Zaluzhny wrote on Facebook. The defence of Bakhmut was key to protecting the entire front, he added.
Russian units, led by the notorious Wagner mercenary force, have been trying to capture the city at any cost, sending waves of ill-prepared convict recruits against fixed Ukrainian positions.
So far, the attackers have succeeded in pressing the town from three sides. Bakhmut is now considered to be largely destroyed, and both sides are said to have already suffered heavy losses in the fighting.
A Ukrainian advance in the Donetsk region to relieve Bakhmut, is increasingly expected by the Russians. According to Russian reports, several Ukrainian brigades have been massed between the towns of Slovyansk and Kostyantynivka for this purpose.
So far, however, the mud that appears in the area in spring, does not allow for quick advances off paved roads.
GNA