The Ukrainian army prevented Russian troops from encircling Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, but the situation on the battlefield in the area remains “very difficult,” the commander of the Ground Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, said on Thursday, Kyiv Independent reports. .

Ukrainian military in BakhmutPhoto: Madeleine Kelly/SOPA Images/Shutterstock Editorial/Profimedia

“Here, every movement and decision can radically change the situation. Every day has the greatest value,” Sirsky added. “I appreciate the quick thinking of the brigade commanders I work with,” he said.

Earlier, the Ground Forces of Ukraine quoted him as saying that the determination to defeat Bakhmut “only grows”.

The battle for Bakhmut, a once thriving industrial city in eastern Ukraine, has been going on for seven months. The Russian military is trying to strengthen control over the entire region, which currently occupies about half.

Despite the heavy fighting, Ukraine did not withdraw its troops from the city.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced in the evening briefing that the Russian army “does not stop trying to surround Bakhmut and gain further access to the administrative borders of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.”

Russian troops are concentrating their efforts to conduct offensive actions in the direction of Kupyansk of Kharkiv region and Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiyivka and Shakhtarsk of Donetsk region, the General Staff added.

On March 8, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned that Bakhmut could fall “in the coming days” but that the loss of the city would not be a turning point in the war.

On March 6, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also noted that the capture of the city would not be a significant defeat for the Ukrainian military, adding that the city has “symbolic” and not “strategic” significance.

Serhiy Sherevati, spokesman for the Eastern Operational Command, responded to the comments on national television Thursday, saying he appreciated their understanding but that NATO did not fully understand the situation on the ground in Bakhmut.

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