"An internal conflict is underway between Ukrainian President Vladimir
Zelensky and 
General Valery Zaluzhny, commander-in-chief of the armed
forces, according to government sources cited by Bild on Monday. Kiev
insiders told the German tabloid that the military commander called for a
withdrawal from a key Donbass city weeks ago.
Zaluzhny advised
the president to abandon Artyomovsk, known as Bakhmut in Ukraine, rather
than keep defending it as Russian troops threatened to take control of
the city, the newspaper reported. However the Ukrainian leader declared
the city a fortress, and refused to pull troops back.
Russian
forces have made notable advances in the fight for Artyomovsk this year.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the private military company Wagner
Group, claimed that it was “de-facto completely surrounded,” with only one road available for possible evacuation.
Bild sources claimed that Ukrainian troops on the ground in Artyomovsk “do not understand why the city is being held”
and believe they should have withdrawn a long time ago. Zelensky
recently stated that Ukrainian forces would defend it as long as it “remains reasonable” to do so." RT
