The Ukrainian military might pull troops back from the key stronghold of Bakhmut, an adviser to Ukraine’s president says in remarks that suggest Russia could capture the city that has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance.
Kremlin forces have waged a months-long offensive to take Bakhmut, a city of salt and gypsum mines in eastern Ukraine that has become a ghost town.
“Our military is obviously going to weigh all of the options. So far, they’ve held the city but, if need be, they will strategically pull back,” Alexander Rodnyansky, an economic adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, told CNN.
“We’re not going to sacrifice all of our people just for nothing.”
Russian forces carried out relentless attacks on Bakhmut on Wednesday, trying to encircle and storm the small Ukrainian city.
Zelenskiy accused Russia of throwing waves of men into battle in Bakhmut with no regard for their lives, and said the fighting was “most difficult” but the city’s defence essential.
The leader of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group said the Ukrainians were putting up “furious resistance” trying to hold the city at all costs.
Russia also said it had repelled a massive drone attack on Crimea, the peninsula its forces seized from Ukraine and claimed to annex in 2014.
On Tuesday officials in Moscow accused Ukraine of launching a series of drone strikes on targets in Russia itself.
Since being ousted from some territory in the second half of 2022, Russian forces have been replenished by hundreds of thousands of reservists.
Ukraine, for its part, has stuck mainly to defence over the past three months, hoping Russia’s assault will exhaust its forces before it launches a counter-attack with new heavy weapons promised by its allies.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s close allies, presidents Xi Jinping of China and Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus, called for the “soonest possible” peace deal for Ukraine at talks in Beijing on Wednesday, Belarusian state news agency Belta reported.
China has become increasingly vocal in calling for peace as the conflict drags on and denied it would provide arms to Russia after US officials said it was considering doing so.
The war took centre stage on the eve of a G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday with the EU foreign policy chief saying its success would be measured by what it could do to help end the conflict.
