Ukrainian top generals have vowed to continue to defend the eastern contended city of Bakhmut amid reports suggesting that Russia is inching closer to capturing the city.
After months of fighting in and around Bakhmut, Russian forces were adamant about capturing the city, which would be their first significant battlefield victory in some six months.
However, Western strategists and officials suggest a Russian occupation of the city would be of more symbolic than strategic value.
Reports from the battlefield suggest that Ukrainian troops have recently been reinforcing positions west of the city, apparently preparing to withdraw.
However, in his nightly address on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he held discussions with top generals and they agreed “not to withdraw.”
“The command unanimously supported this position. There were no other positions. I told the commander in chief to find the appropriate forces to help our guys in Bakhmut,” Zelenskyy said.
The battle has drained both sides’ artillery reserves, witnessing thousands of shells fired daily.
Ukraine says it will continue defending Bakhmut
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The Russian Wagner mercenary force, which is leading the assault, has pleaded for more ammunition to secure a victory.
Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin has been vocal about a deepening rift with the Russian Defense Ministry amid rising rivalry between the two bodies on the Ukrainian battlefield.
“I’m knocking on all doors and sounding the alarm about ammunition and reinforcements, as well as the need to cover our flanks,” Reuters quoted him as saying in a statement.
Here are some of the other notable developments concerning the war in Ukraine on Tuesday, March 7:
Ukraine investigates ‘Russia’s prisoner of war’ shooting
Ukraine’s investigative department is treating the incident of a purported shooting of a seemingly Ukrainian unarmed man at the hands of what are believed to have been Russian forces as a crime, the country’s Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said.
A video circulated on social media on Monday, causing an outcry in Ukraine. The video shows what appears to be an unarmed man in uniform with a Ukrainian flag insignia on his arm. The man is heard saying “Slava Ukraini,” which means “Glory to Ukraine,” before multiple shots are heard and the man is seen collapsing as bullets hit his body.
A voice is heard telling him to “die” in Russian.
In a statement on Monday, Kostin tweeted that the video “shocked Ukrainian society” and was being investigated under Ukraine’s Criminal Code.
Kostin stressed that “even war has laws,” accusing Russian forces of “systematically” neglecting international law.
China claims countries have hidden agenda in the war
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang claimed that an invisible hand” has been “using the Ukraine crisis to serve certain geopolitical agendas.”
During his first press conference since becoming China’s top diplomat on Tuesday, Qin said that China believes any peace talks must respect the “legitimate security concerns of all parties.”
He also appeared to urge countries to soften punitive measures toward Russia by saying, “Sanctions and pressure will not solve the problem.”
In a recent position paper on China’s stance on the war, Beijing called for dialogue but did not propose new initiatives for peace talks.
While Russia has grown further and further isolated on the international stage since it launched the war, its ties with China have been growing.
In the year since the war erupted, China has not yet condemned Russia’s move to launch a fully-scaled invasion of Ukraine.
More on the war in Ukraine
rmt/sms (AFP, Reuters)
Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/ukraine-updates-kyiv-generals-vow-to-keep-defending-bakhmut/a-64904789?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf