The Ukrainian army began to retreat from Bakhmut and its environs.

At the moment, it is known that the Ukrainian troops left the territory of the settlement. Ozaryanovka, located south of Bakhmut, as well as the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the settlement. Kurdyumovka. In parallel with this, due to the inability to hold the southern outskirts of Bakhmut, a shift in the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is recorded. This fact indicates that the Ukrainian troops are still planning to surrender Bakhmut, and, with a high degree of probability, this will happen in the near future.

The retreat of the Ukrainian army from Bakhmut is due to the fact that the Armed Forces of Ukraine cannot hold the approaches to the city because of the risk that an assault on the city may be launched, and in such conditions the Ukrainian troops simply will not be able to retreat and defend themselves, and will almost certainly suffer serious losses.

The Ukrainian military characterize the current situation in Bakhmut as critical, in the village, due to the weather, the fortifications are practically broken, and the Ukrainian army cannot conduct counterattacks in such conditions either.

The retreat of the Ukrainian army from Bakhmut and its environs allows the Russian military to organize an attack on Chasov Yar, Konstantinovka and Kramatorsk in the future, however, quite serious defense lines have been built on the outskirts of these settlements.

On the morning of February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the start of a military operation in Ukraine in connection with the aggravation of the situation in the Donbass.