Former Prosecutor General of Ukraine Yuriy Lutsenko announced his order to leave Bakhmut (Russian name – Artemovsk), where, according to him, he served as a drone operator. The press secretary announced at the end of February that he had been appointed commander of a UAV assault platoon.
“Yesterday I received a personal order to leave the unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Bakhmut and continue to serve in territorial defense,” Lutsenko wrote on social networks.
According to him, the unit, in which he served for 110 days, was transferred to another direction.
“The implementation of both orders is constantly monitored for a report to be submitted to the Presidency,” the former attorney general said.
He criticized the order he received, calling it “minor political revenge”, but added that he would fulfill it. At the same time, Lutsenko denounced the entourage of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that his friends were “in no hurry” to get into the trenches.
“It is a pity that during the critical period, the Bakhmut defense forces will have even fewer drone eyes,” said Lutsenko.
Lutsenko was the Prosecutor General of Ukraine from 2016 to 2019. It is stated in his social media accounts that he is the sniper of the defense battalion.
Preparations for the withdrawal of troops from Bakhmut
On March 3, experts at the American Institute for War Studies (ISW) reported that the Ukrainian military is likely to create conditions for a “controlled withdrawal of troops” from parts of Bakhmut.
According to them, the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed two important bridges in the city area – one along the Bakhmutovka River in the northeast, the other on the road to the village of Khromovo, west of Bakhmut. Analysts believe that the preemptive demolition of bridges may indicate that the Ukrainian army expects to interfere with the advance of the Russian Armed Forces in the eastern part of Bakhmut and limit possible escape routes to the west.
At the same time, Reuters and CNN broadcasts claim that the bridge connecting the city with the village of Khromovo was damaged during the bombardment.
British Defense Ministry analysts said the Russian army and Wagner PMCs continued their offensive on the northern outskirts of Bakhmut. According to the military department, the Ukrainian army still controls this area, but it is vulnerable to attacks by Russian troops from three sides.
The British Ministry of Defense notes that supply routes for Ukrainian units in Bakhmut are becoming more and more limited. Earlier, the New York Times wrote, referring to the military, that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had three main routes to the city, but Russian troops had already blocked one of the roads and approached the other two.
The city was almost besieged
The fact that the city was “de facto besieged” was also announced on March 3 by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of Wagner PMC. On the same day, a Ukrainian commander with the call sign “Magyar” reported that the air reconnaissance unit had received an emergency order to leave Bakhmut.
“The Magyar Birds unit in the middle of the night received an order to immediately leave Bakhmut for a new hostile location,” he said in a video message on his Telegram channel.
At a “critical moment for Bakhmut” he refused to comment on the commander’s orders and the reasons for the transfer of his unit.
At the same time, on March 4, the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced the visit of Commander Viktor Khorenko to Bakhmut, and on March 3, the visit of the Land Forces Commander to the city was learned. Commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Alexander Syrsky. Ukrainian media reported that Syrsky had previously visited Bakhmut on February 25.
On March 2, Sergei Rakhmanin, a member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence, described the situation in Bakhmut as critical. He talked about the problems with the supply of the Ukrainian group in the city and said that from a military point of view there was no point in defending Bakhmut at all costs. According to the deputy, at the moment the Armed Forces of Ukraine is preparing “the necessary conditions for an organized withdrawal.”
Bakhmut, located 60 km north of Donetsk, is an important transport hub for supplying the Ukrainian contingent in Donbass. Violent clashes have been taking place outside the city since August 2022. Earlier, the Russian side reported the capture of settlements in the northeast of the city, including the village of Soledar, Paraskovievka, Kleshcheevka, Berkhovka and Yagodnoye. On February 17, Ukrainian authorities called on local residents to evacuate.