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The battles for Bakhmut put both sides in the Ukraine war to a severe test. Will Ukrainian Armed Forces Withdraw Soon? The news ticker.
- Putin rants in new speech: Russia is fighting in the war against Ukraine for “the survival of statehood”
- Selenskyj continues to hold Bachmut certain: the Ukrainian president does not want to withdraw his troops from the embattled city.
- Kremlin spokesman Peskow don’t think of negotiations: Russia Goals in Ukraine could be achieved “only by military means”.
- Here you can read the latest developments from the Ukraine conflict in the news ticker. The processed information on the Ukraine war comes partly from the warring parties in Russia and Ukraine. They can therefore not be independently checked in part.
Update from March 15, 06:25: According to Ukrainian reconnaissance reports, the Russian Navy positioned several ships on the Black Sea, from which cruise missiles are usually launched. The Ukrainian military leadership spoke of a “cat-and-mouse game” because Ukraine always raises its alertness for possible new rocket attacks when these ships leave the port.
Update from March 15, 05:15: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy relies on the strength of the Ukrainians in the defense against Russian invaders. With perseverance slogans he wants to encourage his fellow citizens in the fight against Russia. “The strength of Ukrainians and the state as a whole lies in the fact that Ukrainians become warriors at a crucial time,” Zelenskyy said in his video address. Since Russia occupied Crimea and since the war began on February 24 last year, hundreds of thousands of citizens have become Ukrainian volunteers and “defend Ukraine against Russian aggression”. Once again Zelenskyj was confident: “We will win this war.”
Update from March 14, 8:15 p.m.: Valeriy Zalushny, head of the Ukrainian army, justified the ongoing defense of the embattled town of Bakhmut in a Facebook post on Tuesday evening. “The defensive operation in this area is of the highest strategic importance to repel the enemy,” Zalushnyi wrote on Facebook. The defense of Bachmut is the key to protecting the entire front.
Only in the afternoon did the Ukrainian Presidential Office announce its decision to continue defending Bakhmut against the Russian attackers. There has been speculation for weeks about a possible withdrawal of Ukrainian troops.
Ukraine war: Putin rants in new speech – Russia is fighting for “survival of statehood”
Update from March 14, 6:38 p.m.: In a speech on Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin justified his troops invading Ukraine. While the West would represent geopolitical interests in Eastern Europe, Moscow is concerned with nothing less than “the survival of statehood”. The Kremlin boss said this at a meeting with hand-picked workers at a helicopter factory in Ulan-Ude, Siberia.
“After 2014, those who advocated the development of normal relations with Russia simply began to be physically exterminated,” he said, referring to Kiev. Putin further claimed that he had been searching for a peaceful solution to the conflict for eight years. But Russia was “led by the nose”.
Ukraine War: Selenskyj continues to cling to Bakhmut – despite considerable losses
Update from March 14, 4:41 p.m.: After a meeting with his top military command, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that he would continue to defend the embattled city of Bakhmut. The decision to continue holding the city was made unanimously at the meeting. This was announced by the Ukrainian Presidential Office in a statement.
Russian troops have already taken the eastern part of Bakhmut. Ukrainian forces still hold the western part.
War in Ukraine: Kremlin expands law against ‘defamation’ of soldiers
Update from March 14, 2:22 p.m.: The Russian government has again expanded the controversial law punishing “defamation” or “discrediting” of its own fighters. Critics of the Russian army and “volunteers” fighting in Ukraine face heavy penalties. “Everyone who risked their lives to guarantee the security of the country and its citizens today is now protected from provocation and lies,” wrote the speaker of the parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, on his Telegram channel after the legislation was passed. A conviction under the new law carries a sentence of up to 15 years in prison.
The tightening of the law is mainly due to a demand from the head of the notorious Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin. He had recruited rows of criminals for the war. The 61-year-old asked politicians to protect the mercenaries – who are officially considered volunteers – from defamation.
Ukraine war: Kremlin spokesman Peskov does not think about negotiations
Update from March 14, 1:25 p.m.: Negotiations to end the Ukraine war hardly seem conceivable at the moment. Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov has now made it clear once again that Russia can only achieve its goals in Ukraine with military force. “We have to achieve our goals,” Peskov said, according to Russian news agencies. “Due to the current position of the Kiev regime, this is currently only possible with military means.”
Without an acknowledgment of the “new realities” a peaceful solution is unthinkable, said Peskov, who reiterated the position of the Russian government and stressed that it was “well known”. Russia has repeatedly stated that Ukraine must accept the annexations of the four regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson. The annexation is not recognized internationally.
Ukraine War: Russia shells Kramatorsk, hitting six apartment buildings
Update from March 14, 12:05 p.m.: The Russian military has fired rockets at the center of the city of Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine. At least three people were injured and one killed in the attack, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “The evil state continues to fight against the civilian population,” he said, according to a statement shared on social media. Zelenskyy expressed his condolences to the relatives. These acts inevitably entail “just” punishments. Six apartment buildings were damaged by the missile strike.
Ukraine War: Battle of Bakhmut continues
First report from March 14th: Bachmut – The battle for Bachmut continues with undiminished severity. The Wagner group has been trying to take the small town in eastern Ukraine for months, but the Ukrainian defenders are still fighting the fighters of the Russian mercenary force. The price is extremely high. Hundreds of soldiers on both sides have been reportedly killed in and around the city every day since August.
War in Ukraine: Wagner group attacks in Bachmut from several directions
“Wagner’s Assault Groups are attacking from several directions, trying to break through the defenses of our forces and advance to the city center,” Ukrainian Land Forces Commander Olexander Syrskyj said on Monday (March 13). However, according to their own statements, the Ukrainian units inflicted “noticeable losses” on the enemy in Bakhmut with artillery and tanks. “The defense of the fortress continues,” explains Syrskyj.
In the meantime, according to Ukrainian military observers, the Russian units have made up ground, especially north and northeast of Bakhmut. So, from the Ukrainian point of view, is it right to defend the city of Bakhmut for as long as possible? This question has been debated for a long time. Bakhmut has more symbolic than strategic or operational value, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on Monday: “The fall of Bakhmut does not necessarily mean that the Russians have turned the tide of this fight.”
Nikolai Mitrokhin agrees. Bakhmut remains important as the center of the secondary line of defense of the Ukrainian armed forces in Donbass, the historian, who works at the German University of Bremen, told Al-Jazeera. But the importance of the city has decreased significantly. The case of Bakhmut will not be decisive for the war.
The Ukrainian military historian Roman Ponomarenko considers the danger of encirclement in Bakhmut to be “very real”. He therefore recommended: “If we just give up Bachmut and withdraw our troops and equipment, nothing bad can happen… if they close the ring, we will lose men and equipment,” he said aloud Reuters the Ukrainian radio NV.
Ukraine war: Wagner group fears a counterattack
On the Russian side, meanwhile, a Ukrainian counterattack to relieve Bakhmut in the Donetsk region is increasingly expected. The head of the Wagner mercenary unit, Yevgeny Prigozhin, had mentioned this in a video message as a threat scenario for his units. According to Russian reports, several Ukrainian brigades were brought together for this purpose. So far, however, the mud has not allowed rapid advances off paved roads. (cs/dpa)