The furious attacks by Moscow's forces to capture the destroyed city of Bakhmut are intensifying. Reports of infantry charges like those seen in World War I have left fields covered in dead Russian soldiers.
'What Madness Looks Like': Russia Intensifies Bakhmut Assault As Ukraine Holds The Line
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Ukrainian soldiers near Bakhmut fire mortars toward Russian positions on January 11.
The assaults on Bakhmut are being led by soldiers from Russia's notorious private mercenary company the Vagner Group, according to Ukrainian, Western, and Russian officials. Some reports point to World War I-style "human wave" infantry attacks.
The assaults on Bakhmut are being led by soldiers from Russia's notorious private mercenary company the Vagner Group, according to Ukrainian, Western, and Russian officials. Some reports point to World War I-style "human wave" infantry attacks.
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A Ukrainian soldier smokes a cigarette at his position near Bakhmut.
Located astride two major crossroads, Bakhmut has been all but emptied of its 70,000 residents, as the city's buildings and homes have nearly all been destroyed.
Located astride two major crossroads, Bakhmut has been all but emptied of its 70,000 residents, as the city's buildings and homes have nearly all been destroyed.
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Ukrainian tanks roll toward the front line in the Donetsk region.
Ukrainian troops are defending Bakhmut's northern, eastern, and southern approaches against Russian forces, who are launching ferocious attacks to seize territory that some analysts say is of no strategic military value.
Ukrainian troops are defending Bakhmut's northern, eastern, and southern approaches against Russian forces, who are launching ferocious attacks to seize territory that some analysts say is of no strategic military value.
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The ferocity of the attacks can be seen in this satellite image supplied on January 11 that shows the crater-scarred landscape east of Bakhmut.
"Everything is completely destroyed. There is almost no life left," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said earlier this week of the scene around Bakhmut and the nearby city of Soledar, another focus of Moscow's attacks.
"The whole land near Soledar is covered with the corpses of the occupiers and scars from the strikes," Zelenskiy said. "This is what madness looks like."
"Everything is completely destroyed. There is almost no life left," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said earlier this week of the scene around Bakhmut and the nearby city of Soledar, another focus of Moscow's attacks.
"The whole land near Soledar is covered with the corpses of the occupiers and scars from the strikes," Zelenskiy said. "This is what madness looks like."
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Even Ukrainian commanders say Russia's obsession with Bakhmut is perplexing.
"Militarily, Bakhmut has no strategic importance," Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskiy, the commander of Ukraine's ground forces, said recently.
"Militarily, Bakhmut has no strategic importance," Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskiy, the commander of Ukraine's ground forces, said recently.
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Ukrainian soldiers on patrol in Bakhmut on January 12.
"But it has psychological significance," Syrskiy said, due to a series of earlier battlefield losses inflicted by Ukrainian troops in the northwestern Kharkiv region and in the southern Kherson region.
"But it has psychological significance," Syrskiy said, due to a series of earlier battlefield losses inflicted by Ukrainian troops in the northwestern Kharkiv region and in the southern Kherson region.
![Capturing the city "will be symbolic for the enemy," Syrskiy said. "Therefore, [Russia] is trying in any way to take control of this city."](https://gdb.rferl.org/058a0000-0aff-0242-bfc0-08daf3d8144a_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Capturing the city "will be symbolic for the enemy," Syrskiy said. "Therefore, [Russia] is trying in any way to take control of this city."
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Ukrainian soldiers on patrol near Bakhmut.
Bakhmut is located about 700 kilometers east of Kyiv and about 80 kilometers north of the regional capital, Donetsk. It was one of the earliest sites of open conflict in 2014, when Russia first stoked a covert armed insurrection to take control of part of the Donbas.
Bakhmut is located about 700 kilometers east of Kyiv and about 80 kilometers north of the regional capital, Donetsk. It was one of the earliest sites of open conflict in 2014, when Russia first stoked a covert armed insurrection to take control of part of the Donbas.
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A Ukrainian soldier cooks in a shelter in Bakhmut.
Then known as Artemivsk, the city was retaken from Russian-backed fighters in July 2014 by Ukrainian government forces. It was renamed Bakhmut in 2016 and had been largely rebuilt since then, serving as a key trading post and access point for people coming and going from parts of the Donbas that were controlled by Russian-backed militias.
Then known as Artemivsk, the city was retaken from Russian-backed fighters in July 2014 by Ukrainian government forces. It was renamed Bakhmut in 2016 and had been largely rebuilt since then, serving as a key trading post and access point for people coming and going from parts of the Donbas that were controlled by Russian-backed militias.
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A military paramedic waits inside his vehicle in Bakhmut.
The city had been indirectly threatened over the months, particularly as Russian forces in early July pushed Ukrainian troops out of the twin cities of Syevyerodonetsk and Lysychansk, 60 kilometers to the northeast. The highway that led from Bakhmut was a key supply route for Ukrainian troops.
The city had been indirectly threatened over the months, particularly as Russian forces in early July pushed Ukrainian troops out of the twin cities of Syevyerodonetsk and Lysychansk, 60 kilometers to the northeast. The highway that led from Bakhmut was a key supply route for Ukrainian troops.
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A resident walks next to a destroyed building in Bakhmut.
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Vagner's founder and owner, business tycoon Yevgeny Prigozhin, signaled last month that Bakhmut was a strategic priority, although he also suggested that the destruction of Ukrainian troops was also a goal.
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The outskirts of Bakhmut burn following a Russian attack on December 27.
"Our goal is not Bakhmut itself but the destruction of the Ukrainian Army and the reduction of its combat potential, which is why this operation was dubbed the ‘Bakhmut meat grinder,'" Prigozhin was quoted as saying in a statement distributed on one of his Telegram channels and the social media account VK.
"Our goal is not Bakhmut itself but the destruction of the Ukrainian Army and the reduction of its combat potential, which is why this operation was dubbed the ‘Bakhmut meat grinder,'" Prigozhin was quoted as saying in a statement distributed on one of his Telegram channels and the social media account VK.
