US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced - today, Monday - that the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine has more symbolic than operational importance, pointing out that its fall will not mean a change in the course of the war.

Austin said - in a press conference in Jordan, which he is visiting as part of a tour of the region that also includes Egypt and Israel - that he would not expect if or when Russian forces would occupy Bakhmut.

This coincides with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu's inspection visit to what the Russian authorities call the "special military operation" area inside Ukraine, specifically Mariupol in the Donetsk region, to inspect reconstruction work.

The Russian army said - in a statement - without specifying the date of the visit, during which Shoigu inspected the reconstructed infrastructure sites as well as new construction workshops in Mariupol.

He added that Shoigu also visited a medical center in the city, a relief center and a new residential neighborhood that includes 12 buildings, noting that a report was submitted to the minister regarding the establishment of schools in this coastal city, which was besieged for several months before it fell into the hands of the Russians last May.

The same source indicated that another report was submitted to Shoigu regarding the construction of a major water channel that is supposed to link the "Donetsk People's Republic" in eastern Ukraine with the Russian Rostov region.

This visit comes at a time when violent battles are continuing to control the city of Bakhmut, located in the Donetsk region, which has limited strategic importance, but has turned into a symbol in which the two sides of the war have been facing each other for months.


Continuous defense

Reuters reported that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed with two senior brigades in the Ukrainian army the situation in Bakhmut, and that both recommended the continuation of the defense of the city.

On Sunday, Zelensky said that the Ukrainian army was engaged in what he called a "painful and difficult battle" against the Russian forces in the Donbass region, where the city of Bakhmut is located.

Zelensky said he had ordered the strengthening of the protection of energy facilities and the restoration of what he called damaged infrastructure, and that his government was already working on all scenarios and would do everything possible to be ready for the coming winter.

These developments coincide with the continuation of battles and mutual shelling, especially in the western areas of the city, according to Al-Jazeera correspondent.

The pro-Russian Donetsk authorities also stated that about 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers are still trapped inside.


Prussia attacks

In the rest of the field developments, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense announced the downing of a Russian "Sukhoi 34" plane in Mykolaiv, in the south of the country.

The "Kraken" special combat unit within the framework of the Ukrainian forces in northeastern Ukraine announced the targeting of the independent control tower called "Grenadier" in the Bryansk region in western Russia, using a drone.

The unit published a video documenting the plane's flight towards the tower, which contains a surveillance camera, and hitting it before the plane exploded.

A spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force Command, Yuriy Ignat, confirmed that his forces destroyed 13 Iranian Shahed drones, noting that the Russian forces launched these planes during the night from the Russian Bryansk region.

And the governor of the Russian province of Belgorod also announced that missiles were dropped in the city of Novi Oskol, which borders Ukraine.