Ukraine continues to defend Bakhmut despite dire warnings from US, say leaked docs

As per the Pentagon leaks documents, the US warned Ukraine that the war-stricken country won’t be able to hold Bakhmut. Ever since the commencement of the Russian-Ukraine war in February last year, Bakhmut located greater region of Donetsk Oblast has been a major site of the conflict in the war. The Russian forces have time and tried to conquer the region by encircling it and making the Ukrainian army more vulnerable. Meanwhile, the ‘Pentagon leak’ involves the recent leaks of US intelligence document which has made several explosive revelations including how the US intelligence is involved in spying on their ally nations. 

According to The Washington Post, the classified documents in question revealed that Washington warned of the potential encirclement of the Ukrainian forces in Bakhmut and also suggested that Kyiv should “cut its losses” and let the city go. Despite all the warnings, the Ukrainian forces have continued to cling to the city’s western edge as Russia continues with its attack. The leaked US assessment was marked as “top secret”, and stated that Kyiv was advised to cut losses since it is “at risk of encirclement unless they withdraw within the next month.” The report stated that the reason behind the predicated loss is the fact that the continued losses have jeopardised “Ukraine's ability to hold the city”. 

The Ukrainian commander overseeing Bakhmut was unaware

According to The Washington Post, Col. Pavlo Palisa, the Ukrainian commander overseeing the fight for Bakhmut was never briefed about the aforementioned US intelligence. “I’m not such a big fish,” Palisa quipped during a conversation with The Washington Post. Another document trove of sensitive material revealed that Washington suggested Ukraine use advanced munitions, information campaigns and counter-drone technology to impose a future cost on the Russian forces. Meanwhile, Palisa lauded his team to hold the conflicted city for so long despite of scarcity of resources. “Our enemy is using jamming really successfully,” he said. “If we don’t have eyes in the air we can’t engage the enemy by artillery fire. Why it’s important because we don’t have many artillery rounds. So our artillery fire must be precise,” he added. 

The hotly contested area is an important transport hub with many crossroads. While Ukraine accuses Russia of targeting critical infrastructure in the city, Moscow accuses Kyiv of holding civilians hostage and using them as human shields. The Russian forces are continuing with their aggression against Kyiv. "The assault detachments continued active operations to destroy the enemy in the Donetsk direction," Russia's Defense Ministry said earlier this month as per the report by Sputnik.