Currently, the enemy is working out media three tasks:
– to blow up the confidence of our society and the military in the decisions of the command on Bakhmut,
– demotivate and psychologically weaken our army,
– to provoke our military leadership to erroneous actions.
To do this, they are trying to shift the emphasis on the topic of Bakhmut and level the fact that our advantage is reasonable and competent planning of operations. The shifted emphasis is to consider Bakhmut as an apocalyptic event and make these battles a division of reality into “before” and “after”. This psychological trick is used to instill the right ideas and narratives of the enemy.
What is happening and how should information about the battles in Bakhmut be perceived?
This is the active phase of the war. It is just as active as in other directions in the East, where a full-scale enemy offensive has been ongoing since January 2023.
We defend Bakhmut as faithfully as any other settlement. The use of our forces and means is determined not by political expediency, but by what resources are needed to repulse the enemy and carry out combat missions in this direction.
The defense of Bakhmut is now due to operational and tactical expediency, and decisions are made competent, balanced and aimed at fulfilling urgent defense tasks.
What are the defense missions?
— retention of occupied lines and positions,
– preventing the advance of the enemy deep into the territory,
– inflicting significant losses on the enemy,
– creating conditions for the transition to the counteroffensive.
Military analysts say the Ukrainian army has done a lot of damage to Russia while defending Bakhmut – but now it is worth retreating. Why did Zelensky decide not to do this?
