“Long range weapons” called for
Zelenskyy does not want to give up “Fortress Bakhmut”.
2/3/2023 5:43 p.m
Fierce fighting has been going on for months over the Ukrainian town of Bakhmut. For Ukraine, however, giving up the city is out of the question. “We will fight as long as we can,” says President Zelenskyj – and demands long-range weapons from the EU.
Ukraine will not give up the embattled city of Bakhmut in the east of the country, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “We will fight as long as we can,” stressed Zelenskyj at the end of an EU-Ukraine summit in Kyiv.
Bakhmut is a “fortress,” Zelensky said. He again called for more weapons from the West to repel Russia’s attacks. “The more long-range missiles we have, the better our artillery is equipped, the faster Russia’s aggression will end and the more guaranteed protection of European security and freedom will be.”
The Ukrainian President also reiterated his appeal to Brussels to further tighten sanctions against Russia. “We are very interested in the fact that Russia has no way of reviving its defense industry,” said Zelenskyy. Previous sanctions only slowed down Russian efforts. The Russian war of aggression against the neighboring country has now lasted more than eleven months.
“If there are faster arms deliveries and long-range weapons at the same time, then not only will we not back down from Bakhmut, but we will also start liberating Donbass, which has been occupied since 2014,” announced the 45-year-old. Kyiv knows exactly what is needed for this.
For months, Russian troops have been trying to capture the city in the Donetsk region, which had a population of around 70,000 before the war. Since the beginning of the year, the Russian military has managed to advance north and south of Bakhmut. According to estimates, only about 9,000 people still live there today. There are no exact figures.