Ukraine war
Zelensky announces liberation of Bakhmut
Bakhmut and two other cities: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj announces the recapture. photo
© Michael Kappeler/dpa
The capture of Bakhmut was Russia’s most expensive victory in the war against Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj is now announcing the reconquest.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj spoke to US media about recapturing Bakhmut and two other cities were announced. “We will liberate Bakhmut from occupiers,” he said, according to CNN. “I think we’ll liberate two more cities from invaders.” But he won’t say which cities these are. “We have a plan, a very, very comprehensive plan.”
The interview reportedly took place on Thursday in Washington, before Zelenskyj’s onward journey to Canada. He was supposed to hold talks there on Friday.
The capture of Bakhmut in months of fighting was Russia’s most expensive victory to date in the war of aggression against Ukraine. Until May 2023, the Ukrainians held out their defense of the city in Donbass in order to inflict as many losses as possible on the Russian army. In their counteroffensive, Ukrainian troops are currently recapturing villages north and south of the city and putting the occupiers under pressure. Freeing Bakhmut would be a symbolic defeat for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
However, there are still no signs that Russian forces will be pushed out of the city. The Ukrainian counteroffensive is making rather slow progress in other respects. There is no city where Ukrainian troops are so close that an early liberation can be expected.