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Selenskyj confirms agreement on Bachmut’s decision

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has reaffirmed the unity of the military leadership in Kiev in the battle for the eastern city of Bakhmut. The unanimous decision was made not to divert, but to reinforce the troops, Zelenskyj said in his video message distributed Monday evening. In it, he informed about a meeting with generals about the situation around the symbolic city of the Ukrainian resistance, which is located in the Donetsk region and has already been largely destroyed.

“Ukrainian Armed Forces are defending every part of Ukraine and will continue to do so,” Zelensky said. The time will come when every city and village will be liberated from the Ukrainian state.

With the embassy, ​​Zelenskyy tried to counter the impression that the country’s leaders had different opinions on how to deal with the situation in Bakhmut. There is a lot of disinformation, said the head of state. Western experts had also stated that it might be better to leave the city and use the resources elsewhere.

The battle for Bachmut rages on

The head of Russia’s private army Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said Ukrainian troops had reinforced four positions in front of Bakhmut. According to Prigozhin, the Wagner fighters blocked Bakhmut, and now the Ukrainian soldiers tried to surround the Russian units and break the blockade. «Ukrainian forces will fight to the end for Artemovsk (Russian name for Bakhmut), that is clear. We also have to do our job to the end,” said Prigozhin. He again demanded more ammunition from the Russian military leadership.

After the meeting with Zelenskyi, Colonel General Olexander Syrskyi, commander of the Ukrainian army, who was in Bakhmut for the third time within a few days, also spoke in Kiev. “The enemy has thrown additional Wagner troops into battle. Our fighters valiantly defend the positions north of Bakhmut and try to avoid encircling the city.”

Bakhmut, home to only a few thousand of its original 70,000 inhabitants, according to Ukrainian information, has been under combat since late summer. The city is the main part of the defense line between Siversk and Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast, created after the Russian conquest of Sieverodonetsk and Lysychansk. If the city falls, the route to the cities of Slowyansk and Kramatorsk will be open to Russian troops. This would make a complete conquest of the Donetsk region more likely.

Zelenskyj condemns video shooting at soldier

In his speech, Zelensky also condemned the murder of a Ukrainian prisoner of war who was allegedly shot dead by Russian soldiers after he uttered the words “Glory to Ukraine”. The scene shown on video caused horror in Ukraine. “Today a video has emerged of the occupiers brutally killing a fighter who bravely uttered the words ‘Glory to Ukraine’,” Zelensky said.

“The squatters are killing us just because we are Ukrainians. For the simple word Ukraine. For our dream of a Ukraine,” said Zelenskyj, who repeatedly describes Russia as a terrorist state. The killers would be found and punished, he said. The identity of the soldier seen on the video was still unknown late in the evening.

British commission warns of shortages in Western arms depots

Given the steady supply of weapons from Western countries to Ukraine, the Defense Committee of the British Parliament warns against excessively thinning its own ammunition reserves. “Britain and its NATO allies have allowed their own supplies to dwindle to dangerously low levels,” the commission said on Tuesday, according to the PA news agency. This not only jeopardizes further arms deliveries to Ukraine, but also threatens Ukraine’s own security as it takes many years to replenish reserves.

“Russia’s attack on Ukraine should be a wake-up call to the West,” said the committee’s Conservative chairman, Tobias Ellwood. Although Russia also faces bottlenecks, other opponents could maintain or even increase their reserves, the committee warned in its inventory. Earlier this week, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace also stressed the urgent need for investment in the military. Wallace is currently struggling to get as high a defense budget as possible before the new UK budget is presented.

The current developments in the live ticker:

What will be important on Tuesday

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) wants to hold military-political talks in the EU and NATO country Lithuania and meet the Bundeswehr soldiers deployed there. In response to Russia’s offensive war against Ukraine, Germany has had a combat brigade on standby since autumn last year to defend Lithuania.

China’s new foreign minister Qin Gang gives his first press conference in Beijing. He is expected to comment on Russia’s offensive war against Ukraine. China presented a position paper last month that disappointed many for showing no initiative to end the war. Since the Russian invasion a year ago, China has supported Russian President Vladimir Putin. (sda/dpa)