Ukraine must hold Bakhmut because any russian victory could be perilous – Zelensky

President Volodymyr Zelensky is convinced that the defeat of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the battles for Bakhmut will be a severe political, not tactical, defeat, after which society will feel tired, and the pressure on Ukraine to find unacceptable compromises with the russian aggressor will increase.

"If he [putin, ed.] will feel some blood — smell that we are weak — he will push, push, push," Zelensky told the Associated Press in an interview.

According to Zelensky, if Bakhmut fell to russian forces, their president, vladimir putin, would "sell this victory to the West, to his society, to China, to Iran."

The president emphasized that in case of defeat in the battle for Bakhmut, Ukrainian society would feel tired and push for a compromise. But at the moment, he does not feel such pressure.

Reference

On March 28, the commander of the Ground Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said that the russian invaders are not giving up their attempts to capture the city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, and the task of the Ukrainian forces is to exhaust the enemy and inflict heavy losses.