Bakhmut may fall ‘in coming days’: NATO chief
The Hindu
The head of the Western military alliance, which backs Ukraine, insisted “it is also important to highlight that this does not necessarily reflect any turning point of the war.”
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned on March 8 that the devastated eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut may fall into Russian hands in the coming days following months of intense fighting.
“What we see is that Russia is throwing more troops, more forces and what Russia lacks in quality they try to make up in quantity,” Stoltenberg told reporters in Stockholm on the sidelines of a meeting of EU Defence Ministers.
“They have suffered big losses, but at the same time, we cannot rule out that Bakhmut may eventually fall in the coming days.”
The head of the Western military alliance, which backs Ukraine, insisted “it is also important to highlight that this does not necessarily reflect any turning point of the war.”
“It just highlights that we should not underestimate Russia. We must continue to provide support to Ukraine,” he said.
Russia’s Wagner mercenary group claimed Wednesday to have captured the eastern part of Bakhmut, the industrial town where fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces has raged for months.
The announcement came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that if Bakhmut fell, Moscow would gain an “open road” for offensives deeper into the country.