Ukraine says its troops have withdrawn from Marinka, one day after Russia says it seized destroyed town
General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s military, said Tuesday that the town of Marinka in the Donetsk region “is no more,” according to the Ukrainian news outlet Hromadske.
When asked about Russia’s earlier claim that it has seized Marinka, Zaluzhnyi said that Ukraine’s forces have withdrawn from the town. In some areas, he said, Ukrainian troops have entrenched themselves on its outskirts or slightly further out.
According to the Ukrainian general, the Russian army may “concentrate its forces and do in two or three months what they did to Bakhmut.”
“We’ll defend only as much as we have strength for. But if it becomes clear that it’s better to save people, then we’ll win it back,” he continued.
After Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu told Vladimir Putin on Monday that Russia was in control of Marinka, a Ukrainian military spokesman said that the town is “completely destroyed” and that saying it’s been captured by the Russian army is “inaccurate” as fighting there is ongoing.