A nearly-minute-long video shared on social media on Tuesday highlighted the devastation that has been brought on the city of Bakhmut in the Donbas region of Ukraine.
Not a single structure is left without damage, as artillery strikes and other explosions continue to wreak havoc on what little remains.
Fewer than 4,000 of the city’s 71,000 inhabitants now remain.
According to recent reports, Russian forces may have seen upwards of 20,000 soldiers killed in the recent fighting, but even worse for the Kremlin is that it will likely fall short of its self-imposed deadline to capture the city in advance of Russia’s upcoming Victory Day parade in Moscow on May 9 that serves to mark the anniversary of the end of the Second World War.
Already, Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered such spectacles in the Kursk and Belgorod regions that border Ukraine, as well as in Russian-occupied Crimea, citing security concerns. Kyiv’s fighters also seem determined to rob Putin of a propaganda victory, and Ukrainian forces have continued to fortify their positions.
“The occupiers can already claim the Guinness record for the frequency of changing deadlines.
After May 1 did not work, it was postponed to May 9,” Serhii Cherevatyi, the spokesman for Ukraine’s Army Command East, told Politico Europe on Tuesday.
Ukraine Not Just Defending
Even worse for the Kremlin is that the Ukrainian military isn’t just seeking to hold the ground it now occupies, but is actively working to push the Russian forces out.
On Monday, there were reports from Reuters that Ukrainian units had already ousted Russian forces in some positions within the besieged city.
The 10-month-long battle for the urban center has taken on symbolic importance for both Moscow and Kyiv.
Russia now holds most of the town, but Ukraine maintains control of the western part of the Bakhmut, as well as the strategically important supply routes.
Both sides have claimed to have made gains in the city, which has evoked comparisons to Stalingrad – which was the site of one of the largest battles of the Second World War, as well as a turning point for the Soviet’s Red Army.
“Despite the significant losses of the enemy, new assault groups of Wagner, fighters of other private companies and paratroopers are constantly rushing into battle. But the enemy fails to take control of the city,” Ukrainian Land Forces Commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said in a statement shared via a post to Telegram.
“In some parts of the city, the enemy was counterattacked by our units and left some positions.”
Another video shared on social media highlighted the intensity of the fighting in the outskirts of the city, where each side is now engaging in trench warfare that is little different from that of the First World War.
In the nearly-minute clip, fighters from the Ukrainian 3rd Assault Brigade were engaged with Russian paramilitary forces from the Wagner Group.
The mercenary unit has taken very high casualties – upwards of half the total losses in the recent fighting – and the situation has reportedly been so bad that there has been a rift between the paramilitary force’s leaders and the Kremlin.
Wagner Group founder and financier Yevgeny Prigozhin had even threatened to pull out his troops from the fighting if Moscow failed to keep the unit supplied with ammunition.
Fierce fighting continues in #Bakhmut. pic.twitter.com/cyGcTkOJmX
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) May 2, 2023
Moscow had denied the munition shortage, yet its forces still seem no closer to gaining full control of Bakhmut.
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.
