Ukrainian President, Volodimir Zelenskyclaimed that the Russian Army will have the “open road” to eastern Ukraine if it captures the besieged city of Bakhmut, in an interview with the US network CNN.
“We understand that after Bakhmut they would go further. They could get to Kramatorsk, they could go to Slovianskit would be an open path for the Russians after Bakhmut,” he told CNN in an interview that would be broadcast on Wednesday.
The Russian army has vowed to capture the eastern town of Bakhmut, a symbolic prize after months of bloody fighting, as a precursor to deeper offensives into Ukraine.
The battle for Bakhmut, a mining town with a pre-war population of 80,000, has been the longest and bloodiest in the Russian invasion, which has devastated large swathes of Ukraine and displaced millions of people.
“Capturing (Bakhmut) will allow offensive operations deep into the defensive lines of the Ukrainian armed forces,” Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told military officials during a televised meeting.
Zelensky assured CNN that their armed forces are determined to remain in Bakhmut.
“I had a meeting with the chief of staff and the military commanders (…) and they all say that we must remain firm in Bakhmut,” he said.
“Of course, we must think about the lives of our soldiers, but we must do what we can while we get weapons, supplies and our army prepares for the counteroffensive,” he added.
Russian disagreements
The intelligence services of United Kingdom have highlighted this Tuesday that the “public disagreements” between the Russian Ministry of Defense and the wagner group reveal the “difficulties” in maintaining the current level of offensive against the Ukrainian city of Bakhmutlocated in the region of Donetsk (this).
“The public disagreements between the Wagner Group and the Russian Defense Ministry over ammunition delivery underscore the difficulty of sustaining the high level of personnel and ammunition required to advance with their current tactics,” they argued, according to a series of messages published by the British Ministry of Defense through its account on the social network Twitter.
Thus, they have stressed that “the Ukrainian defense of Bakhmut continues to degrade the forces on both sides” and have stated that “the Ukrainian forces probably stabilized their defensive perimeter over the weekend after previous Russian advances north of the city.”
“A Russian attack on or around March 2 destroyed a bridge over the only paved supply road in Bakhmut still under Ukrainian control. Muddy conditions are likely hurting Ukrainian supply efforts as they increasingly resort to unpaved routes,” they said.
(With information from AFP)
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Source-www.infobae.com