Nato chief warns Bakhmut may fall ‘in the coming days’

BLOOMBERG

Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the possible fall of Bakhmut “in the coming days” would not indicate a turning point in Russia’s war against Ukraine.
“We must continue to provide support to Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said before a meeting with European Union (EU) defense ministers in Sweden.
Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander in charge of Ukraine’s ground forces, made a second visit to Ukrainian positions near Bakhmut this week.
Meanwhile, Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said a draft EU proposal to use €1 billion ($1.1 billion) to buy shells won’t be enough, adding his country needs about four times as much. Stoltenberg said Russia has suffered major losses in the battle for Bakhmut but is deploying more troops, trying to use quantity as a way of making up for a lack of quality.
“They have suffered big losses but at the same time we cannot rule out that Bakhmut may eventually fall in the coming days,” the Nato secretary general said, referring to Russia. “Therefore, it is also important to highlight that this does not necessarily reflect any turning point of the war and just highlights that we should not underestimate Russia and should continue to provide support to Ukraine.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who ordered his military commanders to summon more forces to defend Bakhmut, said in an interview that giving up the besieged city would give Russia an “open road” to capture cities in eastern Ukraine.
“We understand that after Bakhmut they could go further,” Zelenskiy said. “They could go to Kramatorsk, they could go to Sloviansk. It would be open road for the Russians after Bakhmut to other towns in Ukraine, in the Donetsk direction. That’s why our guys are standing there.”
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said as much: that taking the city would let Kremlin forces push farther into Ukraine’s defenses, as he vowed to continue a months-long attack that’s shown limited results so far. Fewer than 4,000 civilians remain in Bakhmut, including 38 children, compared with a population of about 70,000 before the invasion, according to Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk.
Meanwhile, Zelenskiy’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak spoke by phone with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. Yermak briefed Sullivan on decisions approved by President Zelenskiy and the top military command about operations near Bakhmut, Zelenskiy’s office said by email.
Yermak and Sullivan discussed international efforts to provide Ukraine with weapon and financial support, punishment for Russian crimes against Ukrainians and environmental damage caused by the Russian invasion.
The European Commission last week circulated a three-track plan, proposing to immediately transfer ammunition to Ukraine, particularly 155mm artillery rounds, from existing stocks or pending orders. It also called for aggregating orders to European industry and pledged to propose measures to cut back on red-tape or other bottlenecks hindering the industry from ramping up output.