"We cannot stop Russia without appropriate weapons. Then, when they destroy the positions of our troops, we must protect their lives because they are more important than any buildings," Zelensky said in response to a journalist during a joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Kyiv.Kyiv's forces announced the withdrawal from the key Donetsk Oblast settlement on Oct. 2 after Russian forces swarmed the town's flanks and entered Vuhledar itself.Lying in the southern part of the region, some 50 kilometers (30 miles) southwest of occupied Donetsk and roughly 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of the administrative border with Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Vuhledar has faced a heavy Russian onslaught since 2022.Ukrainian soldiers who defended the town "are our people, they are Ukrainian citizens.