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Gen. Lord Richard Dannatt, formerly a top military leader in the United Kingdom, said Sunday that it makes “complete sense” for Ukraine’s troops to “withdraw to a more defensible line,” in the fiercely contested city of Bakhmut.
Dannatt is the UK’s former chief of the General Staff — the professional head of the British Army. Speaking on Britain’s Sky News, he argued that Bakhmut is strategically “not very significant” to Ukraine.
Despite that, the besieged city has already served effectively as “the anvil on which so many Russian lives have been broken, and therefore it makes complete sense for the Ukrainians now to withdraw to a more defensible line and continue the battle there,” Dannatt said.
A local Ukrainian commander on Sunday dismissed the growing speculation of a possible Ukrainian withdrawal from the city, saying that there have been no “tactical changes” on their side.
Speaking on Sky News, he said that for Ukrainian forces, Bakhmut is strategically “not very significant,” but has “achieved its aim of effectively being the anvil on which so many Russian lives have been broken, and therefore it makes complete sense for the Ukrainians now to withdraw to a more defensible line and continue the battle there.”
What fighters on the frontline are saying: A local Ukrainian commander on Sunday dismissed the growing speculation of a possible withdrawal from the city, saying there have been no “tactical changes” on their side.
“On the contrary, some new reserves are coming in as reinforcement to hold the defense,” said Volodymyr Nazarenko, a deputy commander in Ukraine’s National Guard. “The entire combat area is under chaotic shelling but there is connection with the city, there are routes that are not cut off.”
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