As a prelude to offensives deeper into eastern Ukraine, Russia promised on Tuesday to take the Ukrainian town of Bakhmut, the center of fierce combat for months.
The fierce fighting in the east is occurring as UN leader Antonio Guterres is traveling to Ukraine for talks in Kyiv and as Ukraine announced that it had identified the soldier who was seen being shot dead in a video that caused outrage on social media.
The fight for the salt mining town, which had 80,000 residents before the conflict, has been the longest and bloodiest of Moscow’s more than year-long invasion, which has destroyed large areas of Ukraine and forced millions to flee their homes.
Ukraine vowed Monday to bolster its defenses in Bakhmut, but a Ukrainian soldier near the town also told AFP that forces were bracing for its fall to the Russians and that some units had begun to retreat.
“Capturing (Bakhmut) will allow for further offensive operations deep into the defense lines of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told military officials during a televised meeting on Tuesday.
In Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the army was intent on defending Bakhmut despite a rumored retreat under pressure from Russian forces, who have sought to capture Bakhmut for months.
“I told the chief of staff to find the appropriate forces to help the guys in Bakhmut,” Zelensky said in his evening address to the nation late Monday.
