Russia-Ukraine war: Zelenskyy, Ukrainian military vow to keep defending Bakhmut

The heaviest fighting since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been centered on the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his country’s military chiefs have pledged to continue defending Bakhmut.

In a statement issued by the Ukrainian presidential office on Tuesday, Zelenskyy held a meeting with his top military commanders and other government officials regarding the situation in Bakhmut, where both sides are suffering from heavy casualties. They also discussed the pace and the scale of the supply of weapons and equipment from Western allies as well as how to allocate the weapons and equipment to the troops.

“After considering the defensive operation in the Bakhmut direction, all…expressed a common position to continue holding and defending the city of Bakhmut,” said the statement.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian armed forces, General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, stressed the importance of defending Bakhmut, saying that it was of “paramount strategic importance.”

“It is key to the stability of the defense of the entire front,” said Zaluzhnyi while praising the strength and courage of the Ukrainian troops.

Fighting in Bakhmut has been taking place for almost eight months, with Ukrainian forces surrounded on three sides but have shown no indication of retreating to a new defensive line. Russia sees capturing Bakhmut as a stepping stone for its forces to advance into two major cities in the Donetsk region.

On the same day, Dutch defense minister Kajsa Ollongren announced during a visit to the Ukrainian port city of Odessa that the Netherlands will be providing Ukraine with two minesweepers, drone radars, and an M3 amphibious bridge-building system. Ollongren announced the provisions during a news conference with Ukrainian defense minister Oleksii Reznikov.

A press statement said the drone radars and the M3 system would come directly from the industry, and the two minesweepers are set to be delivered to Ukraine by 2025 as the ships are designed to look for mines in the Black Sea after the war. The Netherlands, along with Belgium and possibly other allies, will be providing training to Ukrainian troops on how to use the minesweepers in the second half of 2023.