BAKHMUT, Ukraine (AP) — Russian soldiers shelling a city in eastern Ukraine with artillery are slowly closing in on their attempt to capture Bakhmut, which has remained in Ukrainian hands during the eight-month war, despite Moscow’s aim to Russia to conquer the entire adjacent Donbas region.
While much of the fighting over the past month has taken place in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine, the escalating battle over Bakhmut demonstrates Russian President Vladimir Putin’s desire for visible gains after weeks of apparent setbacks in Ukraine.
Taking Bakhmut would sever Ukraine’s supply lines and open a route for Russian troops to advance to Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, the main Ukrainian strongholds in Donetsk province. Pro-Moscow separatists have controlled part of Donetsk and neighboring Luhansk province since 2014.
Before invading Ukraine, Putin recognized the independence of the self-proclaimed republics from the Russian-backed separatists. Last month, he illegally annexed Donetsk, Luhansk and two other provinces occupied or largely occupied by Russian troops.
Russia has been firing missiles at Bakhmut for more than five months. The ground attack accelerated after his troops forced the Ukrainians to withdraw from Luhansk in July. The line of contact is now on the outskirts of the city. Mercenaries from the Wagner Group, a shadowy Russian military company, would lead the attack.
The long drive from Russia to Bakhmut exposes the “craziness” of Moscow, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an overnight address to the nation this week.
“Day after day, for months, they’ve been driving people to their deaths there, concentrating the maximum force of artillery strikes there,” Zelenskyy said.
At least three people were killed in the shelling between Wednesday and Thursday, according to local authorities.
According to the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank, the Ukrainian army is firing mortars and heavy artillery to repel Russian forces less than 5 kilometers (3 miles) away early Thursday.
Russia needs a victory in Bakhmut as it loses control of large parts of Kharkov’s northeastern region last month to a Ukrainian counter-offensive and its deteriorating position in Kherson. The territories were among the first captured by the Russian army after the invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
“Russia suffers defeats across the board. … They need the optic of some offensive victory to calm critics at home and to show the Russian public that this war is still in the works,” said Samuel Ramani, an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute , a defense and security think tank in London.
The Wagner Group has played a prominent role in the war and human rights groups have accused its soldiers of committing atrocities. Their deployment around Bakhmut reflects the strategic importance of the city for Moscow. However, it is unclear whether the mercenaries have made much tangible gain, Ramani said.
“We see a situation where the Wagner Group is quite effective at creating terror among the local residents, but much less effective at actually capturing and holding territory,” he said. At best, they gain 1 kilometer a week towards Bakhmut, he said.
While in town this week, reporters from The Associated Press saw burned-out cars, destroyed buildings and people struggling to survive amid a cacophony of constant shelling. Bakhmut has been without electricity or water for a month and residents worry about heating their homes when temperatures drop.
“We hoped that this (war) would end or that we would have conditions that would allow us to live. But since last month, conditions have been terrible,” said resident Leonid Tarasov.
Few shops are open. The AP saw people use firewood to cook on the street and draw water from wells.
Before the war Bakhmut had about 73,000 inhabitants, but according to Pavlo Kyrylenko, the Ukrainian governor of the Donetsk region, about 90% have left the city.
In recent days, some of those who remained have asked to be evacuated from areas now too dangerous for volunteers or soldiers to reach because of the fighting, said Roman Zhylenkov, a volunteer with the local Vostok-SOS aid group.
Others feel trapped.
“People who left moved to stay with their children or siblings. They had places to go,” Ilona Ierhilieieva said, mixing soup over an open fire by the side of the road. “But as for us, we have no place to go. That’s why we’re here.”
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Mednick reported from Kiev, Ukraine
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