Russian minister vows to pursue Bakhmut assault

BLOOMBERG

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said taking the besieged eastern city of Bakhmut would let Kremlin forces push further into Ukraine’s defenses, vowing to continue a months-long siege that’s shown limited results so far.
Bakhmut “is an important link in the defenses of Ukraine’s forces in Donbas,” Shoigu told commanders in televised comments. The founder of Russian mercenary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, earlier blamed a lack of shells and military support for his forces’ failure to seize the city.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy ordered his military commander to summon more forces to defend Bakhmut. Fewer than 4,000 civilians remain there, including 38 children, compared with a total population of around 70,000 before the invasion, according to Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk.
Ukrainian forces likely stabilised their defensive perimeter at the weekend following previous Russian advances into the north of the town, according to the latest intelligence update from the UK Defense Ministry.
“Public disagreements between the Wagner Group and Russian Ministry of Defence over the allocation of munitions highlights the difficulty in sustaining the high levels of personnel and ammunition required to advance with their current tactics,” the ministry said.
Zelenskiy said he asked his key military officers whether Ukraine should pull out of Bakhmut and they were unanimous in supporting its continued defense despite Russian successes in surrounding the besieged city on three sides.
It was a change of tone for the president, who last month said that “the enemy is gradually destroying everything that can be used to protect our positions, for reinforcement and defense” and that his forces wouldn’t hold the city “at any cost and with everyone dying.”