Ukrainian fighters at Bakhmut reported encircled-

February 24/23 the report below was placed here

Bakhmut May Be Closed for Safe Entry and/or Exit

22 hours ago this report appeared @ Asia Times

22 hours ago via google at the time of my posting the report below appeared– which means it was published not long after my above report.

Some 10,000 to 20,000 troops comprising the Ukrainian army in Bakhmut are now trapped.  Reports say that the city is operationally encircled with diminishing chance of a breakout.

To the west of Bakhmut is a lot of open country and not much to prevent a Russian advance all the way to the Dnieper River. There is no hard evidence yet that the Ukrainian army has prepared a second line of defense.

Ukraine tried a counter-offensive that temporarily gained some ground, but now it has been rolled back. There is little chance that the Ukrainians have an opportunity to try again.  

The weather is about to turn rainy and overcast. This makes it difficult for Ukrainian forces to retreat from the city in any orderly way. The roads are all but blocked, and forces evacuating across muddy farm fields will be difficult, leading to high casualties.

Zelensky should have pulled these troops out but he didn’t. Instead he distanced himself from what will undoubtedly occur there.

Zelensky Admits Bakhmut Loss Would Pave Way to Bigger Ukraine Cities

“As for Bakhmut, there is no order for the armed forces to hold the position to the death. There is no such order at all.“

Nor was their an order to evacuate/pull back. Zelensky has presented this as if the soldiers chose to stay. That is not likely. He is absolving himself.

“It is hard to see what Ukraine thought it could achieve by sacrificing an important part of its frontline force”

Another theory is that a long siege, like Mariupol, would play well in the West, showing Ukraine’s heroic fighters holding out against the barbarian Russian behemoth. While Bakhmut was fighting for its life, Ukraine could demand more and better weapons, especially long range artillery and US fighter planes.

And that is what Zelensky did. He left these men to die in order to play political games. To have the dumb western audience think this was an acceptable use of living people in order to gain more weapons. his is not Ukraine for Ukrainians. This is the exploitation of human beings to target and destabilize Russia. It makes no difference to either Zelensky or the NATO maniacs if the Ukrainians fight, to the last Ukrainian for a Ukraine that can’t or won’t exist without it’s citizens.