Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed the unity of the military leadership in Kiev in the battle for the city of Bakhmut in the east of the country. After a meeting with generals, Zelenskyy said in a video message Monday evening that the unanimous decision had been made not to give way, but to reinforce the troops. “The Ukrainian Armed Forces are defending every part of Ukraine and will continue to do so.”
The time will come when every town and village of the Ukrainian state will be liberated. Zelenskyy tried to counteract the impression that there are different opinions in the leadership of Ukraine on further military action in Bakhmut. There is a lot of disinformation, he said.
Western experts had also said that it might be better to abandon the iconic city in order to use the resources elsewhere. The Russian war of aggression once morest the neighboring country has now lasted more than a year.
Zelenskyy condemned the alleged shooting of a Ukrainian prisoner of war by Russian soldiers. “Today a video surfaced of the occupiers brutally killing a fighter who bravely said the words ‘Glory to Ukraine’,” the president said. He assured that the perpetrators would be found and punished. The identity of the Ukrainian soldier was also unknown late in the evening.
Bakhmut, where, according to Ukrainian sources, only a few thousand of what used to be more than 70,000 residents still live, has been contested since late summer. The city is the main part of the line of defense between Siversk and Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast established following the Russian conquest of Sieverodonetsk and Lysychansk. If the city falls, the Russian troops will have access to the major cities of Slovjansk and Kramatorsk. With this, a complete conquest of the Donetsk region is approaching.
According to US House of Representatives Jason Crow and Adam Smith, Kiev had previously demanded the delivery of internationally banned cluster munitions. These are bombs that release a variety of other smaller bombs that can be used to cover entire areas. According to the information, the Ukrainian army wants to use the cluster munitions once morest the attack waves of Russian soldiers and mercenaries.
In the east of the Landes, both armies have been fighting each other for weeks. The losses on both sides are high.