Ukrainian official says forces might pull out of key city of Bakhmut

The Ukrainian military might pull troops back from the key stronghold of Bakhmut, an adviser to

Ukraine’s president said Wednesday in remarks that suggested Russia could capture the city, which has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance.

Kremlin forces have waged a bloody, monthslong offensive to take Bakhmut, a city of salt and gypsum mines that is in eastern Ukraine and has become a ghost town.

“Our military is obviously going to weigh all of the options. So far, they’ve held the city, but if need be, they will strategically pull back,” Alexander Rodnyansky, an economic adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, told CNN. “We’re not going to sacrifice all of our people just for nothing.”

The battle for Bakhmut has come to embody Ukraine’s determination as the city’s defenders hold out against relentless shelling and Russian troops suffer heavy casualties.

Bakhmut is in Donetsk province, one of four provinces that Russia illegally annexed last fall. Moscow controls half of Donetsk. To take the remaining half, Russian forces must go through Bakhmut, the only approach to bigger Ukrainian-held cities since Ukrainian troops took back Izium in Kharkiv province in September.

Analysts say the fall of Bakhmut would be a blow for Ukraine and offer tactical advantages to Russia but would not prove decisive to the war’s outcome.

Rodnyansky noted that Russia was using the Wagner Group’s best troops to try to encircle the city. The private military company known for brutal tactics is led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a rogue millionaire with longtime links to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Prigozhin said Wednesday that he had seen no signs of a Ukrainian withdrawal and that Kyiv has been reinforcing its positions.

“The Ukrainian army is deploying additional troops and is doing what it can to retain control of the city,” Prigozhin said. “Tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers are offering fierce resistance, and the fighting is getting increasingly bloody by day.”

Ukraine’s deputy defense minister, Hanna Maliar, said this week that reinforcements had been dispatched to Bakhmut.

Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov told The Associated Press that the reinforcements might have been sent “to gain time” for strengthening Ukrainian firing lines on a hill in Chasiv Yar, 9.3 miles west of Bakhmut. Zhdanov said the possible withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from Bakhmut “will not affect the course of the war in any way” because of the firing positions in Chasiv Yar.

Bakhmut is partly encircled, and all roads are within range of Russian fire, Zhdanov said. The city lies in ruins and “no longer has strategic or operational significance.”

“In Bakhmut, the Russians lost so many forces — soldiers and equipment — that this city has already fulfilled its function,” Zhdanov said.