‘It Looks Nuked’: New Ukraine Footage Shows Entire City Wiped Out

Drone Footage Shows the Near Total Destruction of Bakhmut – A 48-second-long video clip that was shared on social media on Tuesday highlighted the destruction and devastation of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, which has been the site of the most intense fighting in the now 13-month-long war that began with Russia’s unprovoked invasion.

Clouds of smoke could be seen billowing out of numerous bomb-scared buildings, while rows of houses were reduced to rubble.

As one former Trump National Security Council official told 19FortyFive: “It looks nuked. There is nothing left. It looks like Hiroshima.” 

“The city of Bakhmut fortress from a bird’s eye view. This is what Muscovy Peace is, once a great peaceful city in Donetsk region, now only ruins,” Ukraine military analyst/reporter @Feher_Junior wrote on Twitter while sharing the video.

Make it a Desert and Call it Peace

Other drone footage from social media and mainstream news outlets tells a very similar story. In many ways, it all resembles scenes from a disaster movie or documentary from a past conflict – but tragically the fighting in and around Bakhmut continues. It is easy to see from even the brief footage why military analysts and commentators have compared the efforts to take control of this city to the infamous Battle of Stalingrad during the Second World War.

The battle in the Donetsk Oblast is nearing its eighth month, while the city has been under almost constant shelling since May of last year. It is also just the latest round of fighting – as it was the site of the nearly two-month-long Battle of Artemivsk (as the city was formerly known) from April to July 2014 when Ukrainian forces successfully drove out pro-Russian separatists from the so-called “Donetsk People’s Republic.”

The city was subsequently renamed Bakhmut as part of Ukraine’s policy of “decommunization.”

The Siege of Bakhumt Continues

As of Wednesday, Ukrainian forces have continued to hold out in a few positions on the edge of the bombed-out city, while Russian forces continue to edge forward toward its center. Both sides have described the fighting in and around Bakhmut as a “meat grinder,” Reuters reported.

Russia’s forces have taken control of the AZOM metals factory on the western side of the Bakhmutka River, claimed Denis Pushilin, the Russian-installed leader of the Kremlin-controlled Donetsk region.

“The important thing here was to clear out the industrial zone at the plant itself. You can practically say that has now been done, with the guys just finishing off (Ukrainian) fighters there who are only left in solitary groups,” Pushilin told Russian state TV.

Kyiv hasn’t acknowledged that its forces have been pushed back, and fighting reportedly continues for the city, while the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) has stated that the drive to take control of Bakhmut has been especially costly.

“Fighting continues in the Donbas town of Bakhmut, though Russian assaults are still at a reduced level compared to recent weeks,” the MoD’s Thursday update on Ukraine noted, and it further claimed that Russia’s 10th Tank Regiment has taken heavy casualties in recent days. 

The city of Bakhmut fortress from a bird’s eye view This is what Muscovy Peace is, once a great peaceful city in Donetsk region, now only ruins pic.twitter.com/FYZwf1bF00

— Feher_Junior (@Feher_Junior) March 28, 2023

Even more surprising was the fact that Yevgeny Prigozhin, chief of the infamous mercenary force known as the Wagner Group, admitted that the recent fighting has taken a toll on his forces.

“The battle for Bakhmut today has already practically destroyed the Ukrainian army, and unfortunately, it has also badly damaged the Wagner Private Military Company,” Prigozhin admitted.

The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported that Wagner Group forces now control the majority of the city; approximately 65 percent as of Wednesday. However, it increasingly appears that even if Russia is able to take control of the city, it will be a pyrrhic victory – while holding it could be even more challenging as Ukraine is being equipped with Western main battle tanks (MBTs) and other advanced hardware.

Peace could be a long-time coming for Bakhmut. Only the dead have seen the end of war.

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Author Experience and Expertise:

A Senior Editor for 19FortyFive, Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu.