Russia-Ukraine war – latest: Putin’s troops unlikely to hold onto Bakhmut, says military expert

Vladimir Putin’s troops “may not hold on to Bakhmut,” a military analyst has said. Michael Kofman of the Center for Naval Analyses, a US research group, said Russian forces will “find it difficult to defend” Bakhmut now Wagner mercenary fighters are withdrawing from the city. “And so they may not hold on to Bakhmut, and the whole thing may have ended up being for nothing for them down the line,” he told the War on the Rocks podcast in an interview on Tuesday. Russian forces declared victory in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut last month after a nine-month battle with Ukrainian forces. However, Ukrainian deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar has warned that “the battle for the Bakhmut area hasn’t stopped,” she said. “It is ongoing, just taking different forms.” Maliar said artillery shelling still goes on in Bakhmut at levels similar to those at the height of the battle to take the city. It comes as Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said his men would withdraw from the city, after a dispute with the Kremlin over a lack of ammunition received from Putin’s government. Read More The drone attack on Moscow imperils Putin like never before A six-year-old Ukrainian girl saved by adoption or a murderous adult imposter: Who really is Natalia Grace? The tension between Kosovo and Serbia has deep roots. The EU and US are still struggling to find a solution...