No intention to abandon Bakhmut as Ukraine seeing partial success - NSDC secretary

Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, says Ukraine is not going to surrender Bakhmut, intending to hold ground for as long as the military deems necessary.

The official said this on the air of the national telethon, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"Yesterday's statement of our General Syrskyi is absolutely true, we are pushing them back little by little. But keep in mind that Bakhmut is 41 square kilometers. It’s ‘square,’ not just kilometers. So be aware that there’s much to work on there, there’s space, and our military is working on all these issues. We have partial success, the military also make some statements because it all depends on multiple factors. We are not going to surrender Bakhmut and we will hold it for as long as the military finds it necessary for the tactical and strategic goals of our country's military and military-political leadership. We are working in line witho our plan and we are not going to adapt to anyone," Danilov stressed.

He also reacted to the statements made by Yevgeny Prigozhin, chief of Russia’s Wagner Group, regarding the allegedly “insufficient amount of ammunition” his units are facing.

"I’d like to remind you that he undertook to capture Bakhmut back ahead of Putin's birthday. And we remember it was back in October last year. They don't have the capacity to take over a small district center," Danilov said.

According to the official, Prigozhin's statements about the alleged lack of ammunition or insufficient supplies are false.

"None of this is true. They have been working continuously toward capturing our territories, but our fighters, our Armed Forces, those young men and women who defend Bakhmut and other areas, do not give them such an opportunity, and that is why they are doing this now. As for the alleged lack of ammunition, this isn’t true. There are internal squabbles going in Russia. We predicted that things would go this way and now they are. There’ll be more infighting but it will come a bit later," said Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council.

As reported earlier, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of Wagner Group, claimed he would start withdrawing his units from Bakhmut, Donetsk region, starting May 10. Explaining his statement, he complained about the alleged refusal on the part of the Russian defense ministry to supply the sufficient amount of ammunition.

On Wednesday, the commander of Ukraine’s Ground Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said the Ukrainian defenders successfully completed counterattacks around Bakhmut, as a result of which the occupiers were pushed up to 2 km back in some areas.