Monitoring Desk
STOCKHOLM: Secretary General NATO Jens Stoltenberg warned Wednesday that the devastated eastern Bakhmut city of Ukraine might fall into the hands of Russia in the coming days following months of severe fighting.
While talking to media persons in Stockholm, the NATO chief said that what they observed that Russia was throwing more troops, more forces, and what Russia lacked in quality, trying to make up in quantity.
He further said that Russians had suffered huge losses, but at the same time, they could not rule out that Bakhmut might fall in the days to come.
He, however, said that it was also significant to highlight that it does not necessarily reflect any major turning point in the conflict.
“I just want to say that we should not underestimate Russia, and we should continue to provide assistance to Ukraine,” he said.
Russian claims capturing eastern Bakhmut
Meanwhile, Russia’s Wagner mercenary group claimed on Wednesday to have captured the eastern part of Bakhmut city, the industrial town where fighting between Ukraine and Russian forces has intensified for months.
The claim came after President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky warned that if the eastern city of Bakhmut fell, Russia would gain an “open road” for offensives deeper into the country.
The severe fighting around Bakhmut city has been the longest and bloodiest in Russia’s more than year-long offensive, which has devastated major parts of Ukraine and displaced millions of Ukrainian people.
Ministers of the EU were discussing possible plans to expedite defence production and provide ammunition to Ukraine as it burns through thousands of howitzer shells every day.
The NATO Chief said that the current rate of consumption compared to the current rate of production of ammunition was not sustainable, and therefore they needed to ramp up production.”
He welcomed the move by the European Union, which shares 21 member states with NATO, to strengthen defence output.
He said that this was something they were working on and they had seen important steps already being taken.
“However, we need to do more because we need to ensure that Ukraine receives the ammunition it requires to defend itself from Russian aggression, as we need to replenish our own stocks,” he said.
