KYIV—Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy publicly committed his troops to holding out in Bakhmut after days in which they had seemed likely to withdraw, apparently prolonging the war’s bloodiest battle in a bid to break Moscow’s assault force.
Moscow has sent thousands of troops in waves over recent weeks to try to capture the eastern Ukrainian city. Ukrainian forces have dug trenches further west and in recent days had seemed to be preparing to pull out.
But Zelenskyy’s remarks in an overnight address suggested Kyiv had elected not only to stay and fight on but to reinforce the city.
“The command unanimously supported” the decision not to withdraw, Zelenskyy said. “There were no other positions. I told the commander-in-chief to find the appropriate forces to help our guys in Bakhmut.”
Russia says taking Bakhmut would be a step towards seizing the surrounding industrial Donbas region, a major war aim.
“The liberation of Artemovsk continues,” Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said in televised remarks, using the Soviet-era name for Bakhmut.
“The city is an important hub for defending Ukrainian troops in the Donbas. Taking it under control will allow further offensive actions to be conducted deep into Ukraine’s defensive lines.”
Reuters journalists have not been inside Bakhmut for a week and could not independently verify the situation there.
“The opportunity to damage the Wagner Group’s elite elements, along with other elite units if they are committed, in a defensive urban warfare setting where the attrition gradient strongly favours Ukraine is an attractive one,” wrote the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War.
Still, not every Western expert agrees with the wisdom of Ukraine fighting on in Bakhmut.
“From artillery ammo shortages, increasingly contested lines of communication, and an attritional battle in unfavourable terrain—this fight doesn’t play to Ukraine’s advantages as a force,” wrote Michael Kofman, a U.S.–based expert on Russia’s military who visited Bakhmut last week.
The United Nations said Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was headed to Kyiv to meet Zelenskyy and discuss renewing an agreement safeguarding grain exports from Ukraine and Russia, both among the world’s biggest suppliers. The agreement, reached last year to prevent the war causing global famine, expires later this month.
