NATO Chief warns Bakhmut may fall soon

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the possible fall of Bakhmut “in the coming days” would not indicate a turning point in Russia’s war against Ukraine.

“We must continue to provide support to Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said before a meeting with European Union defense ministers in Sweden. 

Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander in charge of Ukraine’s ground forces, made a second visit Ukrainian positions near Bakhmut this week. Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, meanwhile, said a draft EU proposal to use €1 billion ($1.1 billion) to buy shells won’t be enough, adding his country needs about four times as much.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visited Ukraine for talks with Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Wednesday on issues which included grain exports, nuclear security, and mitigating impact from the Russia’s war.

“I want to underscore the critical importance of the rollover of the Black Sea Grain Initiative,” Guterres said during a press conference with Zelenskiy in Kyiv.

The deal allowing to export grain from some Ukrainian ports is set to expire March 18 and can be extended if no side seeks to terminate or modify it, though a renewal is yet to be confirmed.

About 40 children will be re-located with a family member, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on television. The evacuation of children had been encouraged in all areas of fighting, but was made obligatory for Bakhmut during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

They are among fewer than 4,000 civilians still in Bakhmut compared with a population of about 70,000 before the invasion, including about 12,000 children, according to Vereshchuk.

The issue of children in Russia’s war has become particularly charged. Last month, The School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab at Yale University said at least 6,000 Ukrainian children aged from 4 months to 17 years had been placed in “political reeducation” camps in Russia and occupied Crimea, with some later adopted or sent to foster families.

Stoltenberg said Russia has suffered major losses in the battle for Bakhmut but is deploying more troops, trying to use quantity as a way of making up for a lack of quality.

“They have suffered big losses but at the same time we cannot rule out that Bakhmut may eventually fall in the coming days,” the NATO secretary general said, referring to Russia. “Therefore, it is also important to highlight that this does not necessarily reflect any turning point of the war and just highlights that we should not underestimate Russia and should continue to provide support to Ukraine.”

According to the Institute for the Study of War, “Russian forces have likely captured the eastern part of Bakhmut east of the Bakhmutka River following a controlled Ukrainian withdrawal from eastern Bakhmut as of March 7.” Zelenskiy this week ordered commanders to continue the defense of the city despite the Russian advances.