Ukraine holds on to Bakhmut as Russian troops close in

Kyiv, March 6

Ukrainian military leaders are determined to hold onto Bakhmut, Kyiv officials said on Monday, even as Russian forces continued to encroach on the devastated eastern Ukrainian city that they have sought to capture for six months at the cost of thousands of lives.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office said he chaired a meeting with military officials during which the country's top brass advocated strengthening Ukrainian positions there.

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Intense Russian shelling targeted the Donetsk region city and nearby villages as Moscow deployed more resources there in an apparent bid to finish off Bakhmut's resistance, according to local officials.

“Civilians are fleeing the region to escape Russian shelling continuing round the clock as additional Russian troops and weapons are being deployed there,” Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said.

Russian forces that invaded Ukraine just over a year ago have been bearing down on Bakhmut for months, putting Kyiv's troops on the defensive but unable to deliver a knockout blow.

More broadly, Russia continues to experience difficulty in generating battlefield momentum.

Moscow's full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022, was soon stalled and then was pushed back by a Ukraine counteroffensive. Over the bitterly cold winter months, the fighting has largely been deadlocked.

Bakhmut doesn't have any major strategic value, and analysts say its possible fall is unlikely to bring a turning point in the conflict.

Its importance has become psychological — for Russian President Vladimir Putin, prevailing there will finally deliver some good news from the battlefield, while for Kyiv, the display of grit and defiance reinforces a message that Ukraine was holding on after a year of brutal attacks to cement support among its Western allies. — AP

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