NEAR BAKHMUT, Ukraine/WASHINGTON—On the battlefield in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv’s forces continued to withstand Russian assaults on the now-ruined city of Bakhmut. Reuters reporters heard a constant rumble of artillery on all sides at about 1.5 km (0.9 mile) from the frontline.
In eastern Ukraine, the Russian-installed leader of the Donetsk region said on Thursday the situation around Bakhmut remained “complex and difficult” as Kyiv refused to withdraw its forces.
“That is, we do not see that there is any premise that the enemy is going to simply withdraw units,” Denis Pushilin said in an interview on state TV.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this week his military top brass had advised reinforcing Bakhmut….