Ukraine: incendiary munitions fired near Bakhmout, whose defense is “key” for kyiv
Ukrainian soldiers walk near the front around Bakhmout, March 8, 2023. © Lisi Niesner / Reuters
Text by: RFI Follow
3 mins
White phosphorus incendiary ammunition was fired by the Russians on Tuesday March 14 at an uninhabited area in Chassiv Iar, near Bakhmout, in eastern Ukraine, AFP journalists noted.
Fierce fighting continues for control of this symbolic city, whose defense Bakhmout was considered "
key
" to maintaining "
frontline stability
" in eastern Ukraine, the commander-in-chief of the forces said on Tuesday. Ukrainian armies.
Advertisement
Read more
Two projectiles were launched on a road at the southern exit of the locality and leading to
the nearby town of Bakhmout
.
Phosphorus munitions are incendiary weapons whose use is prohibited against civilians, but not against military targets, under a Convention signed in 1980 in Geneva.
The hiss of the two projectiles in the sky was followed each time by explosions of submunitions releasing a multitude of small white incandescent balls of phosphorus which fell slowly vertically.
Once on the ground, the incendiary balls set fire to the vegetation on each side of the road, on an area approximately equivalent to that of a football field.
AFP was unable to say whether the location targeted was a position or a camp of Kyiv forces, but a green van bearing a white cross, a sign of the Ukrainian army, was parked at the entrance to a path, in the area that was burned.
The first dwellings are about 200 meters from one end of the affected area.
kyiv has accused Moscow of having used them on several occasions since the start of the offensive, in particular against the civilian population, which the Russian army categorically rejects.
“
Key to Defense Stability
”
Around
Bahmout the longest and bloodiest battle
since the beginning of the Russian invasion is taking place, the defense of which is "
key
" for Kiev: "
The defensive operation in this direction is of paramount strategic importance to deter the enemy
,” Valery Zaloujny said on Telegram, quoted by his press service.
“
It is the key to the stability of the defense of the whole front
,” he insisted.
He echoed similar recent remarks by President Volodymyr Zelensky who felt that the
loss of Bakhmout could allow the Russians to attack
and seize other nearby major cities.
On Tuesday, following a meeting between the Ukrainian president and the main leaders of his army, the Ukrainian presidency assured in a press release that "
all members of the general staff
" had expressed "
a common position concerning the continuation of the maintenance and defense of the city of Bakhmout
”.
The city of Bakhmout is located in the Donbass in eastern Ukraine.
© RFI
The decision to hold the city at all costs comes as the situation on the ground is becoming more and more complicated for the Ukrainian forces.
On Monday, Ukrainian ground troop commander Oleksandr Syrsky said "
heavy fighting
" with
Russian forces was underway in the center of Bakhmout
, a town now completely ravaged.
The leader of the pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk Denis Pushilin, quoted by Russian news agencies, confirmed on Tuesday that "
fierce fighting
" is taking place "
literally for every meter of Bakhmout
".
The leader of the paramilitary group Wagner Yevgeny Prigojine,
whose men are on the front line in the battle
, told him that Ukraine was "
preparing
" a counter-offensive "
around
" the city, without giving more details.
He estimated at "
about
70,000
" the number of Ukrainian soldiers mobilized in the area, information impossible to verify from an independent source.
► To read also: Bakhmout, a communication battle?
(With AFP)
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
Continue reading on the same topics:
Ukraine
Russia
Defense