KYIV, Ukraine — Russian forces are engaged in “mopping up” operations to clear the remaining Ukrainian soldiers from the ruins of Bakhmut, a senior Ukrainian official said on Monday, as Kyiv’s military commanders seek to shift the focus from their apparent loss of the city to the battle for its outskirts.
The commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky, conceded over the weekend that only a small contingent of Ukrainian soldiers is now inside Bakhmut, a tacit acknowledgment that Russia had prevailed in its nearly yearlong campaign to seize the city. General Syrsky said those few troops would continue defending their ground in order to…
