withdrawing would risk other cities. >> translator: this is tactical for us. after bakhmut, they could go further, they could go to kram kramatorsk. they could go to other towns in ukraine. melissa bell is live with more. i wonder if the military commanders are backing this decision. they spending a lot of manpower in bakhmut but the russians spending even more as they try to take this town. >> reporter: that's right. this has become an even more bloody battle than it was before and extremely difficult for the infantry on both sides. so it is a good question. do they continue to send men into what is really a killing field, a grinding machine. very few come out alive.