Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the decision to withdraw the Ukrainian Armed Forces from Vuhledar was “the correct move” to preserve soldiers’ lives.

The Khortytsia military unit reported on 2 October that Ukrainian units had withdrawn from Vuhledar, Donetsk Oblast, after Russian forces entered the city on 1 October.

Vuhledar, a town with a pre-war population of 14,000 in Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast, is a strategically important city on high ground that the Russians want to use for further advances and offensives.

During a joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Kyiv, Zelenskyy addressed the reasons behind leaving Vuhledar.

“Without appropriate weapons, we cannot stop the Russian Federation,” he said. “When they destroy our soldiers’ positions, we must protect their lives because they are more important than any buildings. These are our people, citizens of Ukraine.”

“It is correct that they retreat and can save themselves. For the sake of the state, for the sake of their heroic service. These are correct steps,” he added.

Zelenskyy reiterated his call to international partners to provide Ukraine with the weapons, particularly long-range systems, to halt Russian advances.

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