Ukraine clings to Bakhmut as Russians advance

• Moscow claims that capturing Bakhmut would pave the door for full control.
• Ukraine claims Bakhmut has little strategic relevance but has put up a strong fight.
• Rakhmanin believes that no line of defense should be permitted to fail.

Ukrainian forces held out in the destroyed eastern city of Bakhmut early Thursday, under continual attack from Russian troops seeking their first significant win in more than a year.

Moscow claims that capturing Bakhmut would pave the door for full control of the vital Donbas industrial region bordering Russia, which was one of the main goals of its February 24 assault.

Ukraine claims Bakhmut has little strategic relevance but has put up a strong fight. Not everyone in Ukraine believes that the defense of Bakhmut can continue indefinitely.

“I believe that sooner or later, we will probably have to leave Bakhmut. There is no sense in holding it at any cost,” Ukrainian member of parliament Serhiy Rakhmanin said.

“But, for the time being, Bakhmut will be defended with three goals in mind, the first of which is to inflict as many Russian losses as possible and force Russia to exhaust its ammunition and resources.”

Rakhmanin believes that no line of defense should be permitted to fail.

“There are two ways to approach this – an organized retreat or simple flight. And we cannot allow the flight to take place under any circumstances,” he said.

The war for Bakhmut began around seven months ago, but Russian advances from three sides have left troops with only one way out to the west in recent weeks.

“There is a danger that our garrison in Bakhmut will be encircled,” military analyst Oleh Zhdanov said in a post on YouTube assessing the situation as “critical”.

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