CHASIV YAR, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian military leaders expressed determination Monday to hold onto
Bakhmut as Russian forces encroached on the devastated eastern city they have sought to capture for six months at the cost of thousands of lives.
Less than a week ago, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the defenders might retreat from Bakhmut and fall back to nearby positions.
But Zelenskyy’s office said Monday that he chaired a meeting in which the country’s top military brass “spoke in favor of continuing the defense operation and further strengthening our positions in Bakhmut.”
Intense Russian shelling targeted the city in the Donetsk region and nearby villages as Moscow deployed more resources to try to finish off Bakhmut’s resistance, according to local officials.
“Civilians are fleeing the region to escape Russian shelling continuing round the clock,” Donetsk Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said.