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The pressure on Bachmut is increasing. According to military observers, Kiev could withdraw part of its forces from the city, which has been fighting for months. But President Zelenskyy and the Supreme Army are sticking to their defense. An overview.

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What is the starting position?

For months there has been fighting around Bachmut, where about 74,000 people lived before the war. The city, in the ruins of which, according to official figures, some 5,000 civilians still survive, was almost completely destroyed. “Ukrainian troops may withdraw from their positions on the eastern bank of the Bakhmutka River in light of the geolocation images that confirmed the destruction of the railway bridge across the river in northeastern Bakhmut on March 3,” the US-based agency wrote. Institute for War Studies (ISW). According to Russian military bloggers, the Wagner mercenary force fighting there has now taken over parts in the east, south and north of Bakhmut.

However, on the situation maps, the areas east of the Bakhmutka River are now marked as Russian or so-called gray zones. The Ukrainian General Staff reported on Monday morning in its situation report on the ongoing fighting in the area. Both the city itself and a number of suburbs were fired upon from the Russian side.

Why is Bachmut so important?

After the Russian forces were driven out of the Kharkiv region, Bakhmut’s strategic value is low, as there is no threat of encirclement of the Sloviansk-Kramatorsk conurbation after its fall. For the Russian military leadership, however, the receipt has great symbolic power, as it is supposed to show successes.

Why did the Ukrainian army entrench in the city?

The Ukrainian side held Bakhmut for a long time, as the well-developed positions in the city enabled the attackers to inflict heavy casualties during their slow advance. Nevertheless, the signals and reports of a planned troop withdrawal have been piling up recently, after the Russians have now surrounded Bakhmut from three sides and are advancing from the rear towards the last access road to resupply the Ukrainian units.

How’s it going from here?

After a briefing on Monday between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Commander-in-Chief Valery Saluschnyy and the Chief of the Land Forces, Olexander Syrskyy, it has been decided, according to Kiev, to keep Bakhmut at least for the time being. According to the presidential office, the president asked Zalushny and Syrsky whether it was advisable to defend them. “They expressed their support for the continuation of the defense operation and the further strengthening of our positions in Bakhmut,” it said.

According to observers, the report could be in response to rumors published, among others, by the newspaper “Bild” about a rift between Selenskyj and Salushnyj over the Bakhmut proceedings. (sda/dpa)