Ukrainian troops lost...; They are retreating

Ukrainian troops lost...; They are retreating

President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, has dismissed the deputy head of the Ukrainian Security Service.

The battle for Bakhmut, a strategically important city in the Donetsk region, has reached its highest level of tension, said the commander of the Ukrainian ground army, Lieutenant General Oleksandr Syrskyi who stated that Russia had sent additional forces of the "Wagner" group into the fight.

New report

Retreat

Ukrainian troops are withdrawing from Artyomovsk in "small groups", Agency France-Presse reported, citing an unnamed Ukrainian soldier. "Bakhmut (the Ukrainian name for Artyomovsk) will fall... We are almost surrounded.

The units are gradually retreating in small groups," the agency quoted a soldier repairing a tank near the town of Chasov Yar, which is about 10 kilometers from Artyomovsk, as saying.

Artyomovsk and Chasov Yar are now connected by half-destroyed roads, tanks standing on them can become a target for artillery, AFP quoted the soldier as saying.

Zelensky said: There is no retreat

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his evening address on March 6 that, together with the top Ukrainian commanders, a decision was made not to withdraw from Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, and instead to reinforce the troops currently defending the eastern city.

"Today, at the meeting of the General Staff, I directly asked the commander of the Khortytsia Operational-Strategic Group of Troops, Oleksandr Syrskyi, and the Commander-in-Chief, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, what they think about the further defensive operation in Bakhmut: withdrawal or continuation of the defense of the city," Zelenski said, adding:

"Both generals answered that there is no retreat, and that it is necessary to strengthen the defense. The General Staff unanimously supported this opinion. There were no other opinions," he said.