By Olena Harmash
KIEV (Reuters) – Ukraine has decided to keep fighting in the ruined city of Bakhmut because the battle there is cornering Russia’s best units and degrading them ahead of a planned Ukrainian counter-offensive in the spring, an aide to the president said. Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
The comments, made by Mykhailo Podolyak, were the latest sign of a shift from Kiev this week to continue defending the small eastern town, site of the war’s bloodiest battle, as Moscow tries to secure its first victory in more than half a year. .
“Russia has changed tactics,” Podolyak said in an interview published by the Italian newspaper La Stampa. “It converged on Bakhmut with much of its trained military personnel, the remnants of its professional army, as well as private companies.”
“We, therefore, have two objectives: to reduce the Russian forces as much as possible and to lock them in some major grueling battles, to halt their offensive and concentrate our resources elsewhere for the spring counter-offensive. So today Bakhmut is completely effective, surpassing even his main tasks.”
Russia made Bakhmut the main target of a winter offensive involving hundreds of thousands of reservists and mercenaries. The Russians managed to capture the eastern part of the city and the outskirts to the north and south, but so far they have not been able to close a ring around the Ukrainian defenders there.
Kiev, which in early March appeared to be planning to withdraw to positions west of the city, announced earlier this week that its generals had decided to reinforce troops in Bakhmut and fight on.
In a morning update, the Ukrainian General Staff reported a large number of attacks along the front line and said “the enemy is not stopping its attacks on Bakhmut”.
Moscow says taking Bakhmut would be a step towards capturing Ukraine’s entire Donbas industrial region, an important objective. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday that occupying the city would blow a hole in Ukraine’s defenses and allow Moscow to advance deeper.
Intense trench warfare, described by both sides as a meat grinder, led to huge losses. But Kiev’s decision to stay and fight rather than withdraw was a sign that it believes Russia’s losses are far worse than its own.
After making gains through the second half of 2022, Ukrainian forces have been mostly on the defensive since mid-November, while Russia has gone on the attack with troops called up in its first mobilization since World War II.
But, except around Bakhmut, the Russian winter offensive has largely failed. Meanwhile, Kiev is awaiting a surge in Western military aid expected in the coming months for an offensive once the muddy ground dries out in late spring.
Kiev and the West have also seen signs of exhaustion in Russia’s latest wave of massive missile strikes against Ukrainian targets.
(By Reuters)
#Ukraine #Battle #Bakhmut #immobilizes #Russias #units #ISTOÉ #DINHEIRO