NATO Secretary General said that Bakhmut could fall in the coming days. Our Ministry of Defense noted that in wartime you need to trust the decisions of the military.
Anna Malyar said on the air of the telethon on March 8 that we have a war and people have the right to assume different developments. However, the Deputy Minister of Defense explained that predicting military operations is a thankless task, writes Channel 24 .
How the Ministry of Defense reacted to Stoltenberg's statement
Because it (military actions – Channel 24) is always dynamic. And there may always be circumstances that we cannot calculate and foresee. Accordingly, there are a lot of expert opinions now, but we see from the situation – how much we didn’t predict what will happen there while Bakhmut is standing, – said Anna Malyar.
The official also added that grueling battles also exhaust the enemy.
“And it is very important for us to deplete the enemy, so it all makes sense. And in this situation, I urge you to trust only the military,” the deputy defense minister explained.
What Stoltenberg said about Bakhmut
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at a meeting of EU defense ministers in Stockholm on March 8 said that the Ukrainian defense of Bakhmut could fall in the coming days. However, this will not necessarily be a turning point in the war.
In addition, the Secretary General of the Alliance explained that:
- The West must step up aid to Ukraine so that the likely loss of Bakhmut does not become a turning point in the war;
- it only emphasizes that NATO should not underestimate Russia. We must continue to support Ukraine.
According to Jens Stoltenberg, what Russia lacks qualitatively, they are trying to compensate quantitatively. That is, the Russians suffered heavy losses, but this does not exclude the possibility of the fall of Bakhmut.
Ukraine decided to keep Bakhmut
The headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief took place on March 6. Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the Commander-in-Chief, commanders and intelligence reported to him, there was a special report on the situation in Bakhmut and around the city.
The President of Ukraine said that he directly asked the commander of the strategic grouping of troops “Khortitsa” General Syrsky, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Zaluzhny about how they see the defense operation in the Bakhmut direction.
Both generals replied not to retreat and to reinforce. This position was unanimously supported by the Headquarters, there were no other positions,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
The Supreme Commander-in-Chief ordered Valery Zaluzhny to find strength to help the military of Ukraine in Bakhmut.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said: “There is no such part of Ukraine to say that it can allegedly be abandoned. There is no such Ukrainian trench in which the stability and heroism of our fighters would allegedly not be valuable.”
