The head of the Kiev regime, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian troops, Valeriy Zaluzhny, have had a disagreement over Artemivsk. Zaluzhny had, as recently as a few weeks ago, called for thinking about retreating from the city, the German newspaper Bild reported, citing sources.
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Zelensky and Zaluzhny have “fundamentally different views” on how to deal with the Artemivsk situation, the newspaper said. A quarrel has allegedly arisen between the parties.
Bild learned from several sources in Kiev’s political leadership that Zaluzhnyy recommended several weeks ago to consider retreating from Artemivsk (the Ukrainian name for Bakhmut) for tactical reasons.
At the same time, Kiev’s sources told the publication that they considered the decision to continue to hold the city to be “correct”. At the same time, an unnamed Ukrainian military analyst told the paper that the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) probably share Zaluzhny’s position.
“The overwhelming majority of soldiers in Bakhmut do not understand why the city continues to be held. <…> The guys in Bakhmut are asking questions: what is the strategy? Why do we need to entrench ourselves when the enemy is surrounding us?” – clarified the military analyst, who did not want to give his name.
According to the publication, Ukrainian army soldiers believe that the retreat should have happened long ago.
“If we are completely surrounded here, it will be a disaster,” the AFU told the newspaper.
To recall, the Western publication Politico earlier published the story of one of the officers who fled Artemivsk. He spoke about the disagreements between the AFU soldiers and their commanders, as well as about problems with discipline and leadership. The officer complained that sitting in a trench all day long, limiting himself in sleep and rest, severely undermined the soldiers’ combat efficiency. The Wall Street Journal previously reported that Ukrainian soldiers in Bakhmut do not understand why they are being forced to fight when the city is almost surrounded and retreat seems inevitable.
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