Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who once said Ukraine should consider negotiating because it made all the gains it could expect in the conflict with Russia, now says the fight unfolding in Bakhmut has been a Ukrainian triumph and a disaster for the Russians.

“For about the past 20, 21 days, the Russians have not made any progress whatsoever in and around Bakhmut,” he told the House Armed Services Committee last week. “So, it’s a slaughter-fest for the Russians. They’re getting hammered in the vicinity of Bakhmut and the Ukrainians have fought very, very well.”

Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskiy, the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, also struck an optimistic tone about the city and said time was not on Russia’s side, according to The Wall Street Journal.

“Our defense forces continue to defend Bakhmut, inflicting great damage on the enemy,” Syrskiy said in a Telegram post, according to the paper. He said Ukrainian troops were “breaking the enemy’s fighting spirit and ruining its plans.”

The Guardian reported that Ukraine is preparing for something of a “Ukrainian D-Day,” now that Kyiv took in 31 Leopard 2 tanks from Germany, Sweden, and Portugal. About 14 Challenger 2s from the UK have also arrived in the country. (See “TOP TREND, WWIII: U.K. NUKE NUTS SENDING KYIV DEPLETED URANIUM WEAPONRY,” 28 Mar 2023.)

TRENDPOST: The Trends Journal has reported extensively on how Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky considers Bakhmut a must-win. (See “UKRAINIAN GENERALS: BAKHMUT MUST BE DEFENDED AT ALL COSTS” 14 Mar 2023, “U.S. PROVIDES UKRAINE WITH MORE AMMUNITION TO KEEP BLOODYING THE KILLING FIELDS” 7 Mar 2023 and “U.S. AT WAR WITH RUSSIA: NATO TROOPS ARE FIGHTING IN UKRAINE” 14 Feb 2023.)

The Western media, throughout the war, has presented one side and only listens to pro-Ukrainian sources with an agenda. A Business Insider report noted that up to 30,000 Russian troops have been killed or injured in the city—NATO said Russia was losing five soldiers for every one Ukrainian killed. 

It is nearly impossible to find out a true assessment of Ukrainian casualties, which some analysts have said could be five to one Russian troop. 

Zelensky said Russian President Vladimir Putin would use a victory in Bakhmut to “sell” it to the “West, to his society, to China, to Iran.”

“If he will feel some blood—smell that we are weak—he will push, push, push,” Zelensky told The Associated Press.

Milley has been one of the biggest supporters of Ukraine after changing his tune that Kyiv should negotiate. (See “IS IT GEN. MILLEY OR MINNIE MOUSE? MORE BS FROM TOP U.S. GENERAL” 21 Feb 2023 and “U.S. MILITARY HEAD MILLEY CHANGES HIS TUNE AFTER CRITICIZED FOR CALLING FOR KYIV TO NEGOTIATE, NOW SAYS RUSSIA LOST!” 22 Nov 2022.)

Zelensky said on Sunday that the military situation in Bakhmut was “especially hot.”