Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky yesterday confirmed the loss of the city of Bakhmut to Russian troops, deploring that “nothing Soviet was left of it.”
Asked by journalists to find out if Ukrainian forces are still resisting or if Russia has taken control of the city, Zelensky did not give a clear position, but said: “You must understand that there is nothing left there.” emphasizing: “Today Bakhmut remained only in our hearts.”
The Russian army has announced that it has taken full control of the city of Bakhmut, the center of hostilities in eastern Ukraine. And the Russian Ministry of Defense stated that “as a result of the offensive actions of the Wagner units, with the support of artillery and aviation of the (southern) unit, the liberation of the city of Artemovsk was completed,” using the Soviet name of Bakhmut. .
Hours earlier, Wagner’s boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin, had claimed control of Bakhmut.
The loss of Bakhmut would have been highly symbolic for the Ukrainians, who held out there for months, ignoring behind-the-scenes American advice to focus their influence elsewhere, given that the city was of no strategic importance to the war as a whole.
Zelensky, who sat next to US President Joe Biden during a meeting on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima, expressed the complexity of the situation when he spoke of Bakhmut with a long emotional response.
Biden said the aid package to Ukraine would include “ammunition, artillery and armored vehicles” days after he gave allies the green light to supply Ukraine with US F-16 fighter jets.
Biden added: “The United States continues to help Ukraine respond, recover, and recover. We also keep the peace.
