President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskiy with Commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhnyi during a parliament session in Kiev, Ukraine, July 28, 2022. Photo/REUTERS
The news of the clash was revealed by a Ukrainian government source quoted by Bild on Monday (6/3/2023).
Kiev insiders told the German tabloid that the army chief called for a troop withdrawal from the main city of Donbass several weeks ago.
“Zaluzhny advised the president to leave Artyomovsk, known as Bakhmut in Ukraine, rather than continue to defend it as Russian troops threaten to overrun the city,” the newspaper report said.
But Ukrainian leaders declared the town a stronghold, and refused to pull troops back.
Russian troops have made important progress in the struggle for Artyomovsk this year.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner Group private military company, claimed last Friday that the area was “de-facto completely surrounded,” with only one road available for a possible evacuation.
According to US media, Washington had urged Zelensky to withdraw from Artyomovsk and focus on preparing a major counteroffensive for the spring using Western-supplied weapons, but Ukraine’s president feared the moral blow such a move would cause.
