Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is not backing down from Bakhmut, instead promising to reinforce the town and deny Russia a foothold in the eastern Donetsk region.
In an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer set to air Wednesday night, Zelensky said Bakhmut has strategic value and defending it would ensure Russia cannot push further west in the Donetsk region.
"This is tactical for us," Zelensky said, according to early comments published by CNN. "We understand that after Bakhmut they could go further."
Zelensky met with his top commanders on Monday, and the Ukrainian leaders unanimously decided they would continue to hold Bakhmut.
This comes as Russian troops, led by mercenary company Wagner Group, aggressively close in on Ukraine's defenders in the center of the city.
Ukraine has inflicted heavy casualties on Russia, which has thrown troops at Ukrainian defenses in a pressure campaign, but time could be running out for a controlled retreat and clinging to the town might end up costing Kyiv.
Still, Zelensky told CNN he wants to deny Russia a symbolic victory after Moscow has suffered a year of setbacks in Ukraine.
Bakhmut has taken on a heightened level of significance for both sides in Russia's six-month siege to take the town, becoming both a symbol of Ukrainian resistance and a potential war prize for Russia.
While its operational value is in question, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said during a military conference call on Tuesday that Bakhmut "is a major defense line for Ukrainian troops in Donbas."
"Its control will help develop a further offensive deep into the Ukrainian army's defenses," Shoigu said, according to Russian state-run outlet TASS.
Meanwhile, the salt and gypsum mining town has seen some of the worst of the fighting — reduced almost entirely to rubble from artillery and gunfire.
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