After visiting the frontline southern region of Kherson on Thursday, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky warned European leaders that “delays” in dispatching fighter aircraft and long-range missiles could prolong the conflict.
Zelensky spoke to a summit of his EU peers assembled in Brussels via video connection while riding home from the war-torn regions, and he gave an emotional account of what he had seen, according to an EU official.
He did, however, applaud a recent EU plan to send Kyiv a million artillery shells, but he persisted in calling for modern warplanes and missiles, which he thinks will be more potent in repelling Russian forces.
His demands came after Oleksandr Syrsky, commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, said he planned to take advantage of the fact that Russian troops were “exhausted” near Bakhmut, the scene of the longest and bloodiest battle since the Russian invasion last year.
Bakhmut — an eastern town which once had an estimated population of around 70,000 people — has virtually emptied of civilians over months of fierce fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces.
“The aggressor has not given up hope of taking Bakhmut at all costs despite losses in manpower and equipment,” said Syrsky.
“Sparing nothing, they are losing significant strength and becoming exhausted.
“Very soon we will take advantage of this opportunity, like we did near Kyiv, Kharkiv, Balakliya and Kupiansk,” he added, referring to successful Ukrainian counteroffensives last year.
Bakhmut is important to Kyiv in containing Russian forces across the full eastern front.
Even though experts claim the city has little strategic worth, both sides have made significant investments in the conflict.
This week, the leader of the Russian Wagner mercenary organization claimed that his troops held control of about 70% of the city. In the larger Donetsk region, a Russian aide claimed that the city was “practically surrounded.”
