- The mother of the executed Ukrainian soldier said Ukraine must continue to protect Bakhmut.
- Paraska Demchuk said NBC News The thousands of casualties at Bakhmut could not have been “in vain”.
- The bloody battles of Bahmut rage on despite the city’s relative low strategic importance.
It was Paraska Demchuk’s worst nightmare, and indeed any mother’s.
She said that while scrolling through social media one day, Demchuk came across a photo of her son. NBC News; This image was taken from a viral video of his execution.
Ukrainian security sources said 42-year-old Oleksandr Machevsky was killed by Russian forces near the front lines of fighting in the eastern Ukraine city of Bakhmut on December 30.
A video of Machevsky’s final moments smoking in a Ukrainian forest went viral in early March, showing the execution of a soldier. He shouted “Glory to Ukraine!” Seconds before he was annihilated by gunfire.
“In the end he understood that he could not do anything. He had no weapons, no grenades, no guns. But he had these words,” Demchuk said at his home outside Kiev. told NBC.
Demchuk quickly identified her son in the video, First false report on the subject of the video. His body was returned home and his family buried him in his native Nijin, Demchuk said Suspirun media. Ukrainian security officials later confirmed that Machevsky was a prisoner of war in the video and President Volodymyr Zelensky. Posthumously, he was awarded the Hero of Ukraine award.
But Machevsky was just one of thousands of victims in months of brutal fighting in the Battle of Bakhmut, which raged more than three months after his death. The death toll in the former mining town continues to rise, despite being of no strategic importance to Russia or Ukraine.
—NEXTA (@nexta_tv) March 9, 2023
Capturing a city gives Russia only a small geographical advantage. The city itself is completely destroyed after months of attrition. Neither side wants to give the other a decisive morale boost or a symbolic victory, but military experts and intelligence analysts say Ukraine is wasting precious resources in a desperate battle. I am increasingly concerned that
Despite Kiev’s insistence that the future of the war depends on the defense of the city, international suspicions have arisen about both sides’ commitment to Bakhmut.
Demchuk reverberated recently Zelensky’s recent allegations Do not abandon Bahumut.
“We have no choice but to keep fighting,” Demchuk told NBC News. “This lost blood will not be wasted. We must continue to protect ourselves.”
But British intelligence says the tide may finally be turning for Russia, which has been picking up momentum in recent days, with Russian forces advancing into the town centre, putting previous internal strife on the back burner. ,victory.
The Ukrainian military updated on Friday, Fighting continues in and around Bahmut Even if Russia tries to “complete control”. Even Zelensky’s rhetoric about withdrawal has softened in recent days. President admits Ukrainian troops may withdraw If they risk being completely surrounded.
Concerns about Ukraine’s tenacity in Bakhmut center on the highly anticipated spring offensive the country wants to carry out, which will inevitably, and most importantly, require a still-live army. become.
