Zelensky said that Ukraine will protect Bakhmut within reasonable limits from Russia

Gianluca Semeraro and Ronald Popeschi

(Reuters) – President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview published Sunday that Ukraine would continue its months-long defense of the eastern town of Bakhmut, mindful of the price paid in human lives.

Zelensky was quoted in the Italian daily Corriere della Sera as debate rages on whether Kyiv forces should remain outnumbered in a city in eastern Ukraine that has been almost completely destroyed by Russian shelling.

Bakhmut, in the front-line Donetsk region, had a population of 70,000 before the war, but Ukrainian authorities now estimate that there are fewer than 5,000 civilians left.

“Yeah, it’s not a very big city. In fact, like many others in the Donbass, (was) devastated by the Russians. It is important for us to defend it, but not at any cost and not for everyone to die,” Zelensky told the daily newspaper.

Analysts say the city has more symbolic than strategic importance as it is the gateway to cities further west in the Donetsk region.

Zelenskiy said Russian commanders were determined to advance towards the cities of Kramatorsk and Slovyansk, further west in the Donetsk region “and up to (the central city of) Dnipro.”

“We will resist, and in the meantime we will prepare the next counterattack.”

Russia launched an invasion a year ago this week and has focused on securing control of the Donbass, made up of Donetsk and Lugansk regions, after initially failing to advance towards the capital Kiev.

Russian troops have been besieging Bakhmut since July, when they captured two large cities to the north.

Russian troops, led by Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group, have made gradual gains in nearby villages, and fighting has engulfed its northern districts in the past few days.

But Ukrainian military analysts say the city, protected by the river and forested areas, goes a long way in crushing Russian occupying forces.

“Currently, there are no grounds for the Ukrainian military to leave Bakhmut. The city is not surrounded,” Oleksandr Kovaleno, a military observer for the Ukrainian analytical center Information Resistance, told the news site nv.ua.

“Bakhmut plays an important role – he serves as a trap. For nine months, mass destruction occurred in the means and means of the Russian occupation forces. It should not be seen as a fortress, but as a trap.”

(Reporting by Gianluca Semeraro and Ronald Popeska; script by Ron Popeska; editing by Lydia Kelly and Lisa Shoemaker)