AFU Ground Forces Commander Names Reasons For Holding Bakhmut
The battles for Bakhmut are important not only for the enemy, but also for the Defense Forces. For several months in this direction, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been restraining the offensive of the Russian invaders and preventing the front from increase.
The commander of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi announced this in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
"Indeed, Bakhmut remains the object of concentrating the enemy's main efforts from among all other directions. For Russia, the east of Ukraine is the only section of the front where it has made at least some progress with the beginning of the "big offensive." The plan to "conquer Ukraine in three days" transformed into nine-month attempts around a small town," said Syrskyi.
According to him, after a series of defeats in the north and south of Ukraine, the leadership of the aggressor state of the Russian Federation needs to demonstrate at least the slightest success in the occupation of the Donbas.
"Without conquering it, the invaders will not be able to develop an offensive in the direction of Kramatorsk and Siversk. Therefore, Russian propaganda presents the battles for Bakhmut as the second "battle for Stalingrad." They like to make such parallels. And to achieve its goals, Russia will not spare either human or material resources," Syrskyi added.
Syrskyi also explained the military expediency of the long-term defense of Bakhmut:
"The battles for Bakhmut are important not only for the enemy, but also for us. After all, for several months in this direction, we have been restraining the enemy's advance and preventing it from increasing the front. In addition, we inflict significant losses on the enemy - we destroy their most professional units, weapons and military equipment," he said.
The commander of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine noted that the further maintenance of Bakhmut is important for our defense for several reasons:
- the town is an important point of defense, the maintenance of which ensures the stability of the defense of the group of troops as a whole;
- Bakhmut is a well-placed natural fortress, which is surrounded by rivers and located on the hills, which contributes to defense;
- also, the protection of the town is facilitated by the presence of multi-storey buildings and developed infrastructure on the left bank of the Bakhmutivka River, where our troops defend;
- the battle of conquering the town is a specific type of hostilities that requires special skills and creates difficulties for the troops who were attacking in the conditions of forest-steppe;
- Bakhmut is part of the Kostiantynivka-Kramatorsk agglomeration, the maintenance of which excludes the enemy from entering the flank and rear of the groups of our troops in the Lysychansk and Donetsk directions.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the Russians continue ground attacks in Bakhmut and its environs, but over the past two days they have not been able to achieve any territorial successes.
In addition, in Bakhmut, Donetsk Region, the occupiers use Syrian tactics with the total destruction of all buildings to move forward.