The head of the NATO Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milli, predicts that Ukrainian forces will not retreat from Bakhmut.
A high-ranking military man said this at a press conference following the results of the Ramstein meeting.
“The most dynamic shifting of the front line in both directions in general takes place in the Bakhmut area. The Ukrainians are changing, they are fighting on the defensive; the Russians, primarily the Wagner group, are attacking. I would describe it as an extremely protracted battle of attrition with a very high level of casualties , especially from the Russian side,” Milli said.
The American general added that the battle for Bakhmut takes place without “cunning maneuvers”, it is “just a series of attacks, a lot of artillery fire with an extremely high level of casualties in this particular area.”
“How long this will go on is hard to say. This has been going on for several weeks now and I believe it will continue as long as the Russians can continue. I don’t think the Ukrainians will just break down and lose, they will continue to fight,” Milli said.
Earlier, a similar idea was expressed by the deputy commander of the Svoboda battalion Vladimir Nazarenko . He stated that a multi-layered defense was organized in the city and they were not going to surrender it.
At the same time, the White House believes that the occupation of Bakhmut by the Russians, if any, will not have a strategic impact on the course of the war in Ukraine .
source: strana