Ukraine might retreat from embattled Bakhmut
The situation in and around the embattled Ukrainian city of Bakhmut is “extremely difficult” and Ukrainian forces may withdraw from the city, an aide to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday.
Alexander Rodnyansky said his country’s military “would retreat, or they would give up strategically Bakhmut if they believed the costs of holding Bakhmut outweighed the benefits.”
The city is considered valuable as a gateway to a swath of the Donbas region, and deadly battles have been fought around it for weeks. The Ukraine military, in its daily update Wednesday on battles in various regions, noted that in Bakhmut “the enemy continues to advance.”
Rodnyansky, speaking on CNN International, said that Russian casualties have already surpassed any value taking the city would provide the invading force but that such losses appear inconsequential to the Kremlin.
“We’re not going to sacrifice all of our people just for nothing,” he said.
He also said modern Western weaponry has begun arriving “late.”
“That was the the whole tragedy about it,” he said. “We could have started training our troops, preparing our troops, equipping them, sending them to Germany months ago in order to prepare. But now we’re facing this lag and Russia is trying to exploit that time lag for its own benefit.”
Still, Rodnyansky said, the tanks, ammunition, artillery systems and possibly even air power will help Ukraine in coming months.
“Our counteroffensives will be around the corner,” he said. “Trust me, they will be very effective.”
Developments:
⬤ The presidents of China and Belarus, meeting in Beijing, joined in urging a ceasefire and negotiations to bring about a political settlement.
⬤ Russia’s Defense Ministry said several drones were shot down by air defense forces in Crimea, and others were disabled by electronic warfare systems.
Russian official: Kremlin, US discuss weapons
Russia and the United States are discussing strategic offensive weapons through closed channels, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Wednesday. But Ryabkov also told Russia’s Interfax “until the United States changes its behavior, until we see signs of common sense in what they are doing in relation to Ukraine, in Ukraine, we see no chance for the decision to suspend START to be reviewed or reexamined.”
The New START treaty places verifiable limits on nuclear weapons. The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s request for reaction to Ryabkov’s comments.
Putin formally signed a law Tuesday suspending Russia’s participation in the Strategic Offensive Arms Treaty. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia will not resume participation in the nuclear arms reduction treaty with the United States until there is a change in the “attitude of the collective West.”
Battered tanks on display draw attention
Burnt-out Russian tanks seized by Ukrainian forces are on display in in the capitals of the Baltics, and most Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians are expressing support for the Ukrainians defending their homeland. But some of those visiting the tanks are members of the countries’ ethnic Russian minorities, and they placed flowers and lit candles to commemorate the fallen Russian soldiers and express support for Moscow.
In Estonia, Anatoly Yarkov, 78, showed up to see the tank in Tallinn. The Soviet army veteran said he feels bitter about Ukraine fighting Russia.
“Russian tanks are burning again like it happened during the war with the Nazis,” Yarkov said. “The Russian people always stood against the Nazis, no matter what flag they used. And I’m very sorry to see that the Ukrainians aren’t on our side today.”
Russia auditing its war spending
Russia’s Federal Treasury said it is auditing spending for the Kremlin’s “special military operation” in Ukraine to ensure that money is being properly used for personal armor, communications equipment and fuel, treasury chief Roman Artyukhin said Wednesday. Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, after meeting with Artyukhin, is to “ensure transparency in the allocation of funds for all needs, so that ... not a single ruble is spent inefficiently.” Lawmakers in the U.S. also have called for reviews of spending on the war.