President Zelenskyy ‘s office issued a message from which it appears that the country’s civilian and military leaders are unanimous on the need to continue to act in the same spirit towards Artemivsk (Bakhmut), Ukrainian media report.
The corresponding message from the office of the President of Ukraine on the meeting of the headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief reads: “Assessing the progress of the defense operation, the President asked the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces to Ukraine Valery Zaluzny and the commander of the operational-strategic troop group of Khortytsya Alexander Syrsky regarding further actions in the direction of Bakhmut. They spoke out in favor of continuing the defense operation and strengthening our positions in Bakhmut.”
Ukrainian journalists draw attention to the fact that today the German newspaper Bild reported on the disagreement between Zelenskyy and Zaluzhny over Bakhmut, since the latter offers to withdraw his troops from the city due to high losses.
However, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin also announced something similar today, as betrayed by Reuters. “The city is more symbolic than strategic,” Austin hinted.
