Yahoo News Ukraine War: Why The Bloody Battle For Bakhmut Matters
Bakhmut shot from the air with a drone for The Associated Press.
Fears are growing that a Ukrainian city Russia has been pounding into rubble could be about to fall to Vladamir Putin in a rare win for the invaders.
Bakhmut is in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, part of which is under the control of Russia and its proxy forces.
For weeks, Russian forces have been stepping up their drive to encircle the town and seize what would be its first major prize in more than six months.
On Tuesday, Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned the “situation is getting more and more difficult”, and that Russia is “destroying everything” in his starkest assessment of the key battleground.
Why is Bakhmut important?
The industrial city of salt and gypsum mines has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance. Bakhmut had a pre-war population of around 70,000, but now lies in ruins after months of intense trench warfare.
The scene of some of the war’s bloodiest battles, Russia itself has suffered heavy troop casualties in a months-long but so far futile campaign.
Capturing Bakhmut would be a symbolic win for Russia following its misjudged, morale-sapping invasion. While the city itself is not seen as strategically important, it would be a stepping stone for taking the rest of the entire Donbas region – one of Moscow’s stated war aims when it invaded a year ago.
The fight for Bakhmut has been likened to Ukraine’s dogged defence of Mariupol earlier in the war, which tied up Russian forces for months, preventing the Kremlin from deploying them elsewhere.
For Ukrainians, Bakhmut is becoming etched in its collective consciousness. Its defense is already hailed in song. The track Bakhmut Fortress, by Ukrainian band Antytila, has racked up almost 4 million views.
Intense clashes rage in the east of Ukraine.
What’s happening now?
Efforts by Russian forces to capture the industrial city have intensified recently.
Russian troops, aided by mercenary fighters from the Wagner Group, are trying to cut Ukraine’s supply lines and force them to surrender or withdraw.
Russia’s state-run RIA news agency released a video clip it said showed Russian Su-25 fighter jets roaring over Bakhmut. “We are glad they are ours,” says a man in the clip identified as a Wagner fighter.
How has Ukraine responded?
As well as Zelenskyy’s alarm, the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces has described the situation as “extremely tense”.
Ukraine’s colonel general Oleksandr Syrskyi said: “Despite significant losses, the enemy threw in the most prepared assault units of Wagner, who are trying to break through the defences of our troops and surround the city,”
A Reuters reporter who visited the area on Monday said he saw no sign of Ukrainian forces withdrawing and that reinforcements were arriving despite constant Russian shelling.
Last week, the UK’s Ministry of Defence warned that Russia could claim a victory in Bakhmut “regardless of reality”.
An elderly woman stands in her backyard after shelling in Chasiv Yar, near Bakhmut.
What next?
Taking Bakhmut is likely to form part of Russian president Vladamir Putin’s spring offensive at multiple locations along the frontline in the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces.
But the spring thaw has a history of ruining the plans of armies attacking Ukraine and western Russia, turning roads into rivers and fields into quagmires, with armoured vehicles becoming stuck in boggy fields.
Ukraine is expected soon to launch its own counter-offensive. But Washington has reportedly urged Kyiv to wait for the delivery of German and British battle tanks, with some already delivered and others n due to be sent within weeks.
