AP Photo/Libkos
- Ukraine's intelligence chief assessed in late February that the situation in Bakhmut was dire.
- Leaked Pentagon documents reveal that he ordered an elite unit there to stabilize things.
- The disclosure offers a glimpse into Ukrainian decision-making as Russian forces were closing in.
Ukraine's defense of Bakhmut was so perilous at one point that Kyiv's military intelligence chief ordered the deployment of an elite unit to try and get the situation under control, leaked Pentagon documents show. The plan was something of a gamble as Ukrainian troops were facing encirclement and outside observers were pushing Ukraine to rethink the brutal fight.