As of today, part of Bakhmut is still under the control of Ukraine. The claim of the Russians about the alleged capture of Bakhmut is not true.
Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC), said this in an interview with CNN on Tuesday, May 23.
"If they (the Russians - ed.) believe that they have taken Bakhmut, I can say that this is not true. Today, part of Bakhmut is under our control. I cannot say that all of it, but part of Bakhmut is still under our fire," he said.
Danilov also defended the authorities' decision to hold the city as long as possible.
"When it came to Bakhmut, these were decisions made at the strategic level. The defense operation was constantly monitored at the meetings of the Commander-in-Chief's staff. We understood why we were doing it," he explained.
In addition, Danilov emphasized that a large number of Russian soldiers were killed in the Bakhmut direction, moreover, not only from among the mercenaries of the Wagner PMC, but also special forces, paratroopers and representatives of other branches of the Russian military. He emphasized that a huge amount of equipment was destroyed, and the enemy spent a huge amount of ammunition there.
"It was our strategic defense operation that was successful for us, considering that we held an area for 10 months where we destroyed them every day. Bakhmut could not be taken for 10 months. What can they brag about?" he added.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, analysts of the Institute for the Study of War stated that exaggerated attention to "claims of victory in Bakhmut" diverts attention from the precarious position in which the Russian military found themselves in and around Bakhmut.
Meanwhile, the spokesman of the Eastern Group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Colonel Serhii Cherevatyi, said that if the Ukrainian Defense Forces continue to advance in Bakhmut on the flanks, it will lead to the fact that the military of the AFU will succeed in taking the city in a tactical encirclement.
Cherevatyi also stated that during the week the Armed Forces of Ukraine managed to advance from 150 to 2 kilometers per day in the Bakhmut area.
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