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| Ukraine vows to keep defending Bakhmut amid persistent Russian attacks |
| 2023-03-07 |
| [Reuters via Yahoo] Ukraine's top generals have vowed to keep defending the eastern city of Bakhmut, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, as Russian forces battled to tighten their siege and secure their first major battlefield gain in more than six months. Ukrainian troops have been reinforcing positions west of the city in apparent preparation for a possible withdrawal but appear not to have decided to pull out. Zelenskiy said he discussed Bakhmut with the regional commander and Ukraine's commander in chief and that both had said "not to withdraw" and to strengthen defences. "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," Zelenskiy said in his nightly address on Monday. The battle in Bakhmut has depleted artillery reserves on both sides, with thousands of shells fired daily along the eastern and southern fronts. Kyiv's European allies are working on a deal to procure more ammunition. The head of Russia's Wagner mercenary force, which has led the Bakhmut assault, said on Monday he needed the regular army to supply him with more ammunition if he was to win the battle. The appeal from Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin underlines a deepening rift between him and the Russian defence ministry, which he has accused of deliberately starving his men of ammunition, an allegation the ministry has rejected. Meanwhile, Ukraine has broadened a request for cluster bombs from the U.S. to include a weapon that it wants to cannibalize for the bomblets they contain to drop on Russian forces from drones, according to two U.S. lawmakers. |
| Posted by:Spaish Platypus1029 |