 Ukraine doubles down defence of Bakhmut. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has doubled down on defending Bakhmut despite earlier signals of a withdrawal from the eastern city that is almost surrounded by Russian troops according to the Financial Times. In his video address, Zelensky said he had met his top generals who had unanimously advised, do not withdraw but reinforce. It is unusual for the president to cite the advice of his top commanders. His intervention comes amid reports of concerns among Western officials. Analysts and some Ukrainian troops at the front line about the merits of holding onto the city despite the costs. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Monday said a retreat from Bakhmut should not be seen as an operational or strategic setback. Zelensky said he had ordered General Valery Zeluzny, commander-in-chief of Ukraine's armed forces, to find the appropriate forces to help the guys in Bakhmut. There is no part of Ukraine about which one can say that it can be abandoned, Zelensky added. The battle for the city known among Ukrainian troops as fortress Bakhmut has lasted almost nine months. One of the most grinding standoffs since Russia's President Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The largely bombed out city has been assailed by Russian troops from its east, north and south. The Ukrainian defensive Bakhmut continues to degrade forces on both sides. The UK's Defense Ministry said Sergei Shoigu, Russia's Defense Minister, said taking control of Bakhmut would allow his troops to continue an offensive into the Ukrainian defenses. Capturing Bakhmut, one of the last of several major cities in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, not under Russian occupation, would give Putin his first major battlefield victory since his forces captured the nearby sister cities of Severodonensk and Lysishansk earlier last summer.