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|January 3, 2023 – Russian troops have exhausted their military potential near Bakhmut in the Donetsk region. The analysts at the Institute for the Study of War claim. The Ukrainian military confirms that the intensity of artillery shelling of their positions by the Russian army has significantly decreased. The Current Time journalists have visited the artillery positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near Bakhmut and talked with both the military and residents of the surrounding villages. What they managed to find out – learn in the report.
January 4, 2023 – For months the city of Bakhmut has been the epicenter of the war in Ukraine. Almost all of the city’s 70,000 residents have fled. Russia is conducting an onslaught on the city in an attempt to capture it but so far its Ukrainian defenders have held firm. Bakhmut is strategically important and its fall would advance Russia’s hopes of capturing Kramatorsk and Slovyansk, key cities in Ukraine’s Donbas region. Reeta Chakrabarti presents BBC News at Ten special report from Yogita Limaye on the frontline in Bakhmut.
January 9, 2023 – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says his troops on the eastern front are ‘holding on despite everything.’ The soldiers face continuous assaults by Russian troops and mercenaries around the towns of Soledar and Bakhmut. This part of the Donbas front has seen some of the most vicious and prolonged fighting of the war. Russian military blogs recently reported breakthroughs in those areas. But neither Moscow nor Kyiv have supported the claims.
January 11, 2023 – Russian forces are escalating their onslaught against Ukrainian positions around the wrecked city of Bakhmut, Ukrainian officials said, bringing new levels of death and devastation in the grinding, monthslong battle for control of eastern Ukraine that is part of Moscow’s wider war.
January 11, 2023 – A salt-mining town of ten thousand residents in eastern Ukraine is the new focal point of a war where the Kremlin badly needs some good news from the battlefield. We’ll ask who controls the town that’s a gateway to the Donbas town of Bakhmut where the Russians have been pushing for months.
January 11, 2023 – The eastern city of Bakhmut has become the most active and violent frontline in the Ukraine war. It is constantly pounded with artillery from both sides, and infantry is fighting on the streets. Our reporters James André and Mayssa Awad have spent six days inside Bakhmut. They followed Ukrainian soldiers fighting to hold the city and the last residents struggling to survive under constant shelling. This is their exclusive report.
January 13, 2023 – Having moved manpower in the direction of Soledar, the Russians did not stop attacking Bakhmut. Russian troops fire artillery and mortars into the city’s residential areas around the clock. Despite this, the humanitarian situation in the city is fully under control. Points of invincibility, volunteer centers are operating, and rescuers continue their service. More details – in the report by our correspondent Olena Hramova.
January 30, 2023 – Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has made yet another appeal for weapons to help his fighters on the frontlines. Bakhmut has been the focus of intense fighting for months. Now if Russia captures the city, it will be a gateway to seizing the region of Donbas. Residents in Bakhmut have spoken to FRANCE 2’s team about how they’re coping.
February 1, 2023 – Ukrainian police staged a risky rescue mission in the besieged eastern city of Bakhmut this week to evacuate a six-year-old girl who had become separated from her pregnant mother. Young Arina was found living with her grandparents in a run-down apartment building in Bakhmut, which has been pummeled by Russian forces in heavy fighting. After trudging through snow to reach Arina, with artillery fire echoing in the distance, police officer Pavlo Dyachenko and two colleagues in combat gear drove Alina to the nearby city of Sloviansk to be reunited with her mother, Halyna Danylchenko. “A shell exploded in our yard!” Arina, clutching a large white teddy bear, told her mother after they hugged.
February 3, 2023 – Constant artillery exchanges, shelling, gunfire, drones buzzing in the sky. The everyday situation in Bakhmut is dire for the 7,000 people still living in the hotly contested city, which has seen most of its pre-war population of 75,000 leave. But those remaining wont’ leave. “Only a dummy wouldn’t be afraid,” says Nadiya Burdinska. “If God wants it, I’ll stay alive”.
February 4, 2023 – Right now, Russia and Ukraine are locked in fierce fighting in the embattled eastern city of Bakhmut. Debora Patta has more on the battle for Bakhmut and how technology is crucial to the fight.
February 4, 2023 – Bakhmut is the name of the city that is now heard all over the world, and a year ago even most Ukrainians had heard little about this city in Donetsk region. Since May, bloody and terrible battles have been going on for this settlement, the most elite units of the Russian army have been mobilized to storm the city, and some of the best units of the Ukrainian army have been mobilized to defend it. In the midst of a cold winter, Khashchi spent two days and one night in Bakhmut, we recorded today’s events and, in our own style, made a small excursion into the history of the city, tried to understand why Bakhmut was so important in the past, is important in the present, and what awaits it in the future.
February 7, 2023 – The Russian army is shelling the city every day and continues to storm the positions of the Ukrainian army. The situation in the Bakhmut direction was discussed at a meeting of the Staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief on February 6. More details about the defense of the fortress city – in our story.
February 7, 2023 – Thus far, neither Ukraine nor Russia has made much progress during the winter. What is actually going on? This video surveys four possibilities. On one extreme, Ukraine may be trapping Russia into attacking at high losses with few gains. On the other extreme, Russia may be engaging in a true counter-counterattack, and Ukraine will soon be put on its backfoot. We may also just be observing winter or a true stalemate.
00:00 – What’s Happening in Ukraine?
05:11 – It’s Just Winter
08:07 – Ukraine Is Setting a Trap
14:36 – A True Stalemate
18:41 – A Russian Counter-Counterattack
24:52 – A Russian Preventive Attack
February 9, 2023 – With incessant fighting in the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine still ongoing, exhausted Ukrainian soldiers have turned to taking refuge in secret underground shelters to rest.
February 14, 2023 – In January, the ‘Azov-Kyiv’ Special Operations Forces unit, formed by Azov veterans, became the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade of Ukrainian Ground Forces. Today, people from this brigade are already defending the Bakhmut direction. hromadske visited the positions of the artillery assault gunners who ‘work’ with the help of captured Russian 2A65 Msta-B towed howitzer. In their trenches and dugouts, they tell us how they feel and what is the most difficult for the military in the coming second year after the full-scale Russian invasion.
February 15, 2023 – Ukrainian forces have reportedly blown up a bridge near Bakhmut, a sign that they may be planning to retreat from the area. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the situation on the frontlines in Donetsk and Luhansk remains particularly difficult. Ukraine claims that its forces have killed over 690 Russian troops over the last 24 hours. NATO officials claim Russia may be planning to launch attacks on Ukraine with heavy air power to break the deadlock.
Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of America’s joint chiefs of staff, has said that Russia has “lost strategically, operationally, and tactically.” The US is reportedly considering sending Ukraine weapons previously seized as part of efforts to combat Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. A former colleague of Putin claims that the Russian President fears being poisoned by his entourage and now travels in an armored train. UK’s Foreign Office has confirmed that a British national has died in Ukraine.
February 15, 2023 – UKRANIANS ARE SHOCKED – RUSSIANS TROOPS ARE FIGHTING EACH OTHER IN FRONT OF THEM
February 15, 2023 – Lynsey Addario, a New York Times photojournalist, speaks with CNN’s Erin Burnett after returning from the front lines in Ukraine.
February 16, 2023 – Ukrainian servicemen fired howitzers at attacking Russian forces near Bakhmut on Thursday (February 16). “They are sending a lot of troops. I don’t think that is sustainable for them to keep attacking this way. There are places where their bodies are just piled up,” said Taras Dzioba, 80th Air Assault Brigade press officer. Bolstered by tens of thousands of reservists drafted in December after months of humiliating battlefield reverses, Russia has intensified attacks across southern and eastern Ukraine in recent weeks, and a major new offensive is widely anticipated as the first anniversary of its invasion nears.
February 16, 2023 – Ukrainians are counter-attacking in Bakhmut, Russian army is replacing depleted Wagner forces.
February 19, 2023 – Battle Of Bakhmut – Ukraine’s Lieutenant Olga, callsign ‘Witch,’ tells a story
February 20, 2023 – Two of the fiercest battles in Ukraine are near Bakhmut and Vuhledar, and the National’s Adrienne Arsenault was taken there to see how Ukrainian forces are fighting back against Russia.
February 22, 2023 – Ukraine and the U.S. say Russian forces have launched offensives in three areas in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region. With support from the Pulitzer Center, Nick Schifrin and videographer Eric O’Connor visited all parts of the frontline. They give us this inside look at the Ukrainian brigades tasked with holding back a larger, more modern Russian force.
February 23, 2023 – ‘The Witch’ tells the story of the fight for the Bakhmut asphalt plant.
February 27, 2023 – As the battle for Bakhmut rages, the commander of Ukrainian ground forces, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, visited Bakhmut to boost the morale of the forces. The top Ukrainian commander also reportedly held talks on strategy with the units defending the town & surrounding villages. Meanwhile, Russia continues to make advances with some reports claiming that 10,000 to 20,000 troops of the Ukrainian army in Bakhmut are now trapped. However, the battle-hardened 17th Tank Brigade is defending the town with its upgraded T-64BV tanks. Reports say that the 17th Tank Brigade is now seeking Western tanks that Ukraine is expected to receive.
00:00 – INTRODUCTION
01:49 – THE UKRAINIAN UNITS DEFENDING BAKHMUT
04:14 – WILL BAKHMUT RESISTANCE BACKFIRE ON UKRAINE?
March 1, 2023 – Russia is trying to cut Ukrainian supply lines to the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, the scene of some of the war’s toughest fighting, and force the defenders to surrender or withdraw.
March 1, 2023 – The head of Ukraine’s land forces has ordered more troops to be sent to defend Bakhmut, where Russian forces are carrying out relentless attacks. The decision from Ukraine’s Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrsky came after he visited troops stationed on the front line last week. “The enemy continues to advance in the direction of Bakhmut. He does not stop storming the city,” the Ukrainian military said on Wednesday morning. Capturing the small mining city would open the way for Russia to seize the last remaining urban centers in the industrial Donetsk province. In his video address late on Tuesday, President Volodymyr Zelensky said: “Russia in general takes no account of people and sends them in constant waves against our positions, the intensity of the fighting is only increasing.”
March 2, 2023 – Ukrainian forces hung on to positions in the ruined eastern city of Bakhmut on Thursday (March 2). FRANCE 24’s Gulliver Cragg tells us more.
March 2, 2023 – In the second half of August, the Russians were stating that they were occupying some positions in the town of Bakhmut, on its eastern edge, namely on Patrice Lumumba Street. At that time, the Wagnerites occupied several houses on the outskirts of the town. We – Nastia Stanko and Kolian Pastyko – got to Bakhmut at the end of February. This is our sixth visit to this city since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. In May, we ate in a pizzeria in the town’s center. In June, we were in the hospital, which was considered to be quite remote from the frontlines. In July, the fighting was on the outskirts of Bakhmut, but the active shelling of the town had already begun. We remember that in July 2022, the military did not want to take us to the place where we had arrived at the end of February 2023.
In mid-August, when the battles approached the eastern outskirts of Bakhmut, the 93rd Brigade, which had been redeployed here from the Izium direction, took up positions here. It held the lines until October, then went on a two-week rotation and returned to the town until December. At the end of 2022, our crew witnessed the work of the brigade’s medical company at the medevac point in Bakhmut. Today, the street where this medevac point was located is being shelled by ATGMs. The brigade went for another month of recuperation and returned to Bakhmut to fight in the streets. Our report features the newly mobilized, crew of an infantry fighting vehicle that comes within 8 meters of the Russians, and Roman Ratushnyi’s activist and friend from Donbas, who uses a drone to adjust artillery fire to destroy Russian tanks and infantry. It’s no secret that it’s hard here. And there is almost nowhere to retreat in the city. But Bakhmut is a fortress. And it is still standing.
March 3, 2023 – Sky News military analyst Professor Michael Clarke joins Tom Cheshire as they look at what appears to be the last hours of Kyiv’s hold on the eastern town of Bakhmut, which has been fought over for months.
March 3, 2023 – Ukraine’s ground commander comes to Bakhmut – Russian conscripts wiped out in battle complained to Putin.
March 4, 2023 – The pressure from Russian forces mounted Saturday on those Ukrainians hunkered down in Bakhmut, as residents attempted to flee with help from troops who Western analysts say may be preparing to withdraw from the key eastern stronghold. Bakhmut has for months been a prime target of Moscow’s eastern offensive in the war, with Russian troops, including forces from the private Wagner Group, inching ever closer. Ukrainian units over the past 36 hours destroyed two key bridges just outside Bakhmut, including one linking to the nearby town of Chasiv Yar along the last remaining Ukrainian resupply route, according to U.K. military intelligence officials and other Western analysts.
March 4, 2023 – Breaking moment of the war: Russian army in Bakhmut suffered a great destruction by Ukrainian army!
March 6, 2023 – The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has declared his forces will continue defending the embattled city of Bakhmut – as a senior general who’s just visited front line troops said the fighting had reached “the highest level of tension.”
March 7, 2023 – The city of Bakhmut has been the scene of months of battles with Russian forces. The announcement comes as a rift appears to be growing between the Russian mercenary group Wagner and the Kremlin. Israel has so far restricted its assistance to humanitarian aid and pledges to help with rebuilding in Ukraine. But the Israelis have offered to deliver an early-warning system to alert civilians of Russian missiles attacks.
March 7, 2023 – Ukrainian President Zelensky has vowed not to retreat from Bakhmut as Russian forces rain fire to capture the embattled city. Zelensky said his advisers unanimously agreed to “not to retreat” and to bolster Ukrainian defenses in Bakhmut. Zelensky and the chief of the Ukrainian military, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, reportedly have conflicting views on the situation in Bakhmut. Kyiv has decided to continue holding the city despite US claims that Bakhmut has “more of a symbolic than strategic or operational value”. The US Defense Secretary said that if Ukrainian forces decided to reposition west of Bakhmut, he would not view that as a strategic setback. Why are Russia and Ukraine not ready to give up Bakhmut?
March 7, 2023 – The defensive operation and further strengthening of the positions of Ukrainian troops in Bakhmut will continue. This decision at the meeting of the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief was supported by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi and the Commander of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi. In addition, at the meeting, the Headquarters discussed the supply of weapons and equipment, as well as their distribution in operational areas. More about the situation in Bakhmut, Donetsk region – in our report.
March 14, 2023 – Hero identified: Oleksandr Matsievsky. Dead and missing people. Vlog: 319: War in Ukraine
March 15, 2023 – Ukraine’s military said that its forces killed over 980 Russian troops and destroyed three Russian command posts on March 14. Ukraine said Russian troops launched 30 air strikes, 8 missile strikes and conducted over 33 MLRS attacks on March 14. Russia said Ukrainian forces fired 50 munitions towards civilian areas in the Donetsk region on March 14. Ukrainian President Voldoymyr Zelensky said that his military leaders are determined to face down the Russian onslaught in Bakhmut. Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi said that Bakhmut is of paramount strategic importance in deterring the enemy.
However, many including US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin have said that “the city has more of a symbolic value”. Reports have emerged of white phosphorus munitions being fired from Russian positions on an uninhabited area near Chasiv Yar. Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov said “American aircraft have no business being near the Russian border”. Antonov was summoned by the US State Department in Washington soon after the Russian fighter jets intercepted the US drone over Black Sea. Meanwhile, the US said it is taking measures to ensure that the drone that was downed over the Black Sea won’t fall into the wrong hands.
March 16, 2023 – In Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, two Ukrainian army brigades defending the city’s southern flank gave the BBC access to their positions as fierce fighting continued in and around the city. The men have spent months facing regular Russian army forces, and prisoners recruited by the Wagner private military group, who have swarmed their trenches in droves. The troops said Russian casualties far outweigh theirs, but that their enemy is using new techniques to try to seize the city and surrounding countryside.
March 16, 2023 – Bakhmut ties Russians as Ukrainians prepare for the next counteroffensive
March 18, 2023 – Heroes of this direction of the Bakhmut defense are servicemen of the Ukrainian State Border Guard. They entrench, build concrete fortifications and repel the attacks from the ‘no man’s land.’ WW1 reminiscence in 21st-century warfare. Why is Bakhmut important, and what do Ukrainian defenders do to protect it? Our correspondents will tell you.
March 19, 2023 – The 108th Separate Mountain Assault Battalion of the 10th Mountain Assault Brigade has been fighting on the front line in Donetsk Oblast for 10 months – with a break of seven and a half days. They have captured dozens of Russian prisoners, including those from the private company Wagner, and have carried out dozens of successful assaults and captured enemy positions. The battalion was one of the first to use aerial reconnaissance not only to adjust, but also to drop ammunition, and to accompany its assault groups.
Our report features the battalion’s mortar gunners who work with French mortars, a brigade officer who was sent to work with an artillery brigade on three “sevens”, a legendary aerial reconnaissance man who has killed half a thousand Russians, infantry assault company commanders who talk about successful and difficult operations, and the battalion’s deputy commander who makes explosives in his spare time.
00:00-00:24: Intro
00:24-01:03: What the report is about
01:03-2:59: The situation in the Bakhmut sector in the area of responsibility of the 108th battalion and the reasons for the absence of enemy actions in several areas
2:59-5:25: The work of mortar launchers of the 108th separate mountain assault battalion with French mortars
5:25-8:26: Military opinions on rotation, fatigue and the need for replacement
8:44-21:54: Interviews with the commanders of three companies of the 108th separate mountain assault battalion about the war, life, losses and the most important things in war. The interviewees also tell us who is mobilized to the assault battalion.
21:54-28:16: An interview with an officer of the 10th Brigade, who was sent to the 45th Artillery Brigade to work on the “three sevens” that help the Edelweiss assault battalions. The story of Russian lancets, the work of Russian artillery and the fear of battle
28:16-35:02: An interview with the legendary aerial reconnaissance aircraft “Skiba”, which killed half a thousand Russians. The story of “our sky”, battle support and the best attack aircraft
35:02-38:20: An interview with the deputy commander of the “Matviy” battalion about the laboratory of the 108th battalion, the production of explosives, and his own hobby.
38:20-45:50: A story about the capture of the “Wagnerites”
March 19, 2023 – Largest Russian arsenal destroyed by Ukrainian forces in Bakhmut, proving a huge victory.
March 21, 2023 – Infinity newspaper brings you the latest breaking news videos and explainers from the UK and around the world Infinity TV is a news agency that broadcasts the most up-to-date and important news from all over the world. Our use of external copyrighted content in addition to our own content is non-commercial.
March 21, 2023 – The situation in the Bakhmut direction remains difficult, but stable. The Ukrainian defenders are not only effectively fighting the enemy in difficult combat conditions, but also equipping their positions. They are also mastering new types of weapons and equipment supplied by foreign allies and employing modern battlefield tactics. Our correspondent Anastasiia Volkova has more details.
March 22, 2023 – TERRA unit: Battles for Bakhmut through the eyes of the unit’s fighters.
March 23, 2023 – In Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, the Ukrainian army continues to lose ground to Russian forces, in and around Bakhmut. But in the south of Donetsk province, Ukrainian tanks and infantrymen are standing firm after months of fighting. Russia’s forces have suffered heavy losses with almost nothing to show for it. BBC correspondent Quentin Sommerville and camera journalist Darren Conway reported from the frontline as daily bombardments continue.
March 25, 2023 – For almost a whole year, the Russians cannot take the city of Bakhmut. They lose a lot of tanks and other armored vehicles there, but they can’t achieve a result in any way. The battle for Bakhmut will definitely become historical. And I give you the opportunity to watch some moments of this battle. Everyone expects a Ukrainian counter-offensive that should change the course of the war.
March 26, 2023 – Is Bakhmut surrounded or is it the location of a Ukrainian army counterattack? But a Russian assault in this direction would be just as costly and would require assaulting through wide open terrain once again. And how exactly did they successfully assault past wide open fields with no cover up to the urban center of Bakhmut in the first place? Russian forces made Bakhmut the location of their main offensive efforts starting in August 2022 when they began heavy artillery shelling. A Russian missile strike on September 22nd blew up the main bridge that crosses the Bakhmutka river which disrupted Ukrainian military logistics and made the eastern half of the city more difficult to defend.
By early November 2022 much of the combat around Bakhmut had turned into trench warfare. Ukrainian soldiers had built a network of trenches in front of the city. Trenches might seem antiquated but in reality even with all of the modern advances in technology breaking through a fortified defensive position is incredibly difficult. Your enemy you’re aiming at in a trench presents a very small target and it’s impossible to fire a small arm round through 6 feet of dirt. The biggest problem facing soldiers who are using trenches is its difficult to get your resupply to the trench line, you can’t just drive up an armored vehicle and drop off supplies they need to be carried by hand.
March 29, 2023 – The freshest reports suggest that Wagner forces are giving into the pressure and gradually retreating from their positions in the fields because some Ukrainian troops said that Russians no longer control the Khromove highway with their Anti-Tank Guided Missiles. Even though these systems have a range of up to 6 km, it only took to push them by around 700 meters because if we look at the topographic map, we can see that they were pushed behind the hill. Recent footage confirms that Ukrainians are delivering small batches of ammunition, although they are still driving as fast as possible to avoid mortar and artillery fire. When it comes to the Sloviansk highway, it looks like Ukrainians decided to develop their success further and push Russians out of the Zaliznianske area.
The assault was rapid and relatively heavy. If previously, Ukrainians here used only one tank and a squad of infantry to capture the Russian strongpoint, then in this attack, Ukrainians used at least two tanks, two armored fighting vehicles, and at least one platoon of infantry. It looks like the attack went wrong: Ukrainian armored vehicles got immobilized too far from Russian positions, which is why the attack was immediately aborted, and Ukrainian infantry in the background started slowly walking away while the tank still fired several rounds at Russian positions and retreated as well. It looks like the intensity of fights will continue slowly increasing because Ukrainians are devoting bigger and bigger assault units in this direction, although for now, they are not rushing and seem to be very cautious with their commitment of significant resources.
Ukrainian forces have also started releasing a lot of combat footage with snipers. One of the videos shows how a Ukrainian sniper is hunting on Russian reconnaissance groups in the fields around the Khromove highway, where he revealed a group consisting of 5 troops, waited until they got together, and eliminated the whole squad. But most snipers are currently located inside Bakhmut. In a recent interview, one of the Ukrainian snipers in Bakhmut said they usually work with targets at very close distances of around 300 meters, although in some areas it is still possible to work with targets more than 1 km away. Being shot from such small distances means that the enemy has basically no chance of surviving. Right now, Ukrainians are mostly located on the territories of huge residential areas with high-rise buildings, while Russians are predominantly located on the outskirts where there are only 1-story houses.
This setting greatly favors Ukrainian snipers and allows them to have significant control over the approaches and support the units that are engaging in close-combat fighting. With an abundance of potential firing positions, many Russian forces get trapped inside the houses with no chance of running away. The only thing they can and usually resort to, unless communication is blocked, is shelling the whole house if they can identify it. That is why the Russian pace of advancement is usually equal to the pace at which the artillery can reduce one residential area after another. Despite the heavy artillery fire, the Commander of Ukrainian forces in Bakhmut once again visited Ukrainian positions inside the city and told everyone to use the fortified infrastructure of the city for defense as intelligently as possible and aim to inflict disproportionate losses to the enemy.
The Ukrainian President has also recently paid a visit in the Bakhmut direction. At that time, the roads were still under fire control of Anti-Tank Guided Missiles, so for safety reasons, he visited Ukrainian positions in Chasiv Yar and gave medals to the best soldiers. Overall, the control over the substantial portion of the high-rise building inside the city creates favorable conditions for holding defense and inflicting high losses even to the most capable Russian assault units. The increasing intensity of attacks and the engagement of a lot of heavy equipment on the Sloviansk highway suggests that Ukrainians are preparing for something big. And the involvement of the High Command in the toughest fights in Ukraine gives Ukrainian troops confidence and the necessary moral boost for continuing to perform at the highest level.
March 30, 2023 – The legend of the British army – the L119 howitzer helps Ukrainian defenders to hold their positions and attack Russian troops in the hottest direction in the Donetsk region. The light artillery mount fires up to seven rounds per minute and can hit targets at a distance of up to 11 kilometers. Olena Hramova was in the Ukrainian Army’s positions and witnessed the artillery crew’s work.
April 12, 2023 – Heavy combat in Bakhmut – six Ukrainian border guards repelled Russian attacks for three hours.
April 18, 2023 – Fedorivka, Bakhmut district. The frontline is 1,5 kilometers away from here. Gunfights and even shots from firearms are easily audible in this village. From a hilltop nearby one can see Soledar, a town where fierce fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces took place in January of 2023. Since then, the town is under Russian control. Fedorivka is located quite close, 12 kilometers from Soledar. Sometimes, the bullets fired at the frontlines hit houses in the village. Russians fire Grad MLRS at the village. They also carry out air and artillery strikes.
The village outlasted 24 strikes with 300- and 500-kilogram bombs. Fedorivka has been without power and natural gas supply, mobile coverage for a year now. Humanitarian aid is delivered rarely — volunteers are afraid to come to this village. Out of 300 residents, just over 20 remain in the village. Among them are Denys, Vika, and their three sons. Their house is on the edge of the village, with the field and the frontlines behind it. Watch the hromadske’s video about the family’s life on the contact line.
April 19, 2023 – Oleksandr Sokoliuk, call sign “Falcon,” is a captain in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and head of the evacuation unit of the 93rd Brigade. He has been evacuating the wounded from the battlefield for precisely a year. First, from the vicinity of Izium, then for ten months from Bakhmut and its outskirts, and now from the town itself. We met Sokoliuk in December of 2022. He was taking the wounded from the vicinity of Bakhmut to a stabilization center in the city. At the end of February 2023, hromadske was in Bakhmut again on the street where the stabilization center was in December, but the street was shelled and fired upon by Russians. Today this street is already occupied. During the time we did not see Sokoliuk, four members of the medevac unit were killed. And a month ago, one of the medics of the Brigade —Yara — died on the way to Bakhmut for evacuation.
Even before, “Falcon” did not allow his subordinates to go to the city to pick up the wounded because they were “young” and “should live and see the life.” Now, he mostly carries out evacuations from the city himself, even though he is the head of the unit. hromadske spent a day with Captain “Falcon”. We went to Bakhmut twice and returned twice. We also found a fresh grave in one of the yards and several civilians still staying in the city – even though the front line is already there. Bakhmut itself looks like a charred match. And the roads leading to it are “cemeteries” of hit military hardware and cars. During that day, “Falcon” evacuated ten wounded and sick soldiers out of the city, the road to which is a constant risk due to enemy shellings. When we said “Goodbye”, Sokol was called to Bakhmut again to pick up another wounded man and one dead man.
April 30, 2023 – “We are very lucky because we are fighting against sh#@heads.” Ukrainian infantry near Bakhmut.
May 1, 2023 – CNN’s Nick Paton Walsh reports on the death of a former US Marine, Cooper Andrews, who was killed on the outskirts of Bakhmut, Ukraine. Then, the Editor-in-Chief of The Atlantic joins Jake Tapper to discuss the magazine’s new article arguing in favor of “the total liberation of Ukraine.”
May 2, 2023 – “As long as we’re not going to be encircled, we’re going to stay here and fight and we’re going to destroy as many of these Russian forces now.” Russian casualty figures in Bakhmut prove that Ukraine was right to ignore US advice to retreat from Bakhmut, says General Jack Keane.
May 4, 2023 – The K2 Battalion of the 54th Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has been fighting in the Bakhmut district, defending its northern edge for nine months. Battalion commander Kyrylo Veres, honored as a Hero of Ukraine, has been at war for nine years. He has been fighting from the very beginning – since 2014. Even though his unit is in a deaf defense here, and the positions are stormed every other day, the soldiers even managed to advance one and a half kilometers. This result is a team effort. The pilots explore and, if necessary, drop on the enemy heads, the infantry observes and attacks if necessary, and the armored group goes to support.
“A battalion is a mechanism, like a clock or a car, and each part has to work. One rudder or one wheel cannot work, all the parts have to work, and when everyone is working, it is much more efficient,” says the battalion commander. One of the most famous videos of this war is also the work of this battalion. The footage shows the work of the K2 armored group while recapturing lost positions. When a Ukrainian tank first shot at Russian infantry positions from 15 meters away, and then drove over the enemy’s position several times. In our report we filmed those tankers, as well as anti-tankers, infantry and the commander Kyrylo Veres himself. You will find out whether the group of Ukrainian troops north of Bakhmut is at risk of being surrounded, whether the Russians really have problems with ammunition, and what the Kherson raccoon has to do with it.
May 8, 2023 – FRANCE 24’s correspondent to Ukraine Gulliver Cragg says the Ukrainians are losing ground to the Russians every day in Bakhmut. ‘The fear is that the Russians have received the order to finally take Bakhmut in time for the 9th of May tomorrow when Vladimir Putin holds his big military parade for Victory Day in Moscow’, he added.
May 9, 2023 – Update from Ukraine | Surprise Ukrainian Counterattack near Bakhmut | Ruzzians Run Away
May 10, 2023 – The battle for the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut has been the longest and bloodiest of this war so far. Western officials estimate between 20,000 and 30,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded here, while Ukraine’s military has also paid a heavy price – and it still isn’t over. Russia has been trying to capture Bakhmut for months, and it’s been a testament – so far – to Ukraine’s determination not to give ground.
May 10, 2023 – Ukrainians just annihilated an entire Wagner unit in Bakhmut | Moscow parade failure |Ukraine Update
May 10, 2023 – Day 442 – Today there is a lot of good news from the Bakhmut direction. First of all, more information became available about yesterday’s assault on the southern flank. Today it became clear that Ukrainians did not attack Russian positions in front simultaneously but rather started shaving them off from the corner near the forest. This explains how most Russians managed to run away before Ukrainians reached their positions. Russians would receive a message about the attack from one group, then lose connection, receive a message about the attack from the second group, and lose connection, and when they understood that they were next on the line, they would run away. Yesterday in the late evening, the commander of the 2nd battalion of the 3rd Assault Brigade reported that they managed to penetrate Russian defense by 2.6 km deep on a 3 km wide front.
But it looks like this was only the beginning because today, Ukrainians released footage showing that they are already operating almost 3 km away from yesterday’s positions, clearing the tree lines near Kurdiumivka. The video featured the same 2nd battalion of the 3rd Assault Brigade and showed how they approached the trenches under the cover of M113. The fighters successfully suppressed the enemy fire and reached the enemy trenches. Since there were several trenches along the tree line, a small group would stay to clear the position, while other troops with the vehicle would continue their movement towards the next fortification. As a result, all positions were cleared, and the fighters reported collecting a lot of trophies, such as machine guns, grenade throwers, sniper rifles, and ammunition.
In the meantime, Ukrainian artillery has increased their focus on this flank and started undermining the next Russian positions on the line. Geolocated footage showed how Ukrainians set on fire a Russian shelter just south of Ivanivske. Russians tried to extinguish the fire, however, in the end, they just chose to abandon their positions and ran towards Klischiivka. Unfortunately for Russians, Ukrainian artillery is also actively firing at Russian positions in Klischiivka. Recently released footage shows how Ukrainians started destroying Russian warehouses with fuel and ammunition. The coordinated work with drone reconnaissance and artillery resulted in the destruction of at least 2 warehouses. Ukrainian artillery crews also fired at Russian objects in a small settlement south of Klischiivka.
After several strikes, Ukrainian drone operators also noticed an increased movement of vehicles. It looks like the Russians got concerned about the strikes together with the recent front-line penetrations and decided to relocate their equipment before it was destroyed by the artillery. However, thanks to the drone operator, the artillery fire followed Russians through the field, which resulted in multiple pieces of equipment being destroyed. The fact that Ukrainians increased the area of operation from 3 km to 6 km, cleared almost all Russian positions west of Kurdiumivka, forced Russians to abandon their positions south of Ivanivske, and destroyed multiple warehouses and pieces of equipment around Klischiivka, suggests that most undersupplied and tactically vulnerable part of the front line is the forest.
Now, as their supplies are essentially cut, Ukrainians can attack them from several directions at once, provide fire support west of the canal, and they should run out of supplies in a matter of hours. Given that there is only one retreat route along the tree line, which is also under fire control, the chances of survival, even during the retreat, are very slim. Once the forest is cleared, Ukrainians can safely move along the canal and attack not only Klishciivka but also Andriivka and Kurdiumivka. And once a powerful bridgehead east of the canal is established, Ukrainians can use this ground to launch a large-scale mechanized assault to start encircling the Wagner Group from the south.
May 11, 2023 – On the frontline of the Ukraine war, in the country’s southeastern Donbas region, the Ukrainian army is fighting back against months of heavy Russian bombardment. BBC correspondent Quentin Sommerville and camera journalist Darren Conway report from this dangerous battlefield.
May 12, 2023 – Roman Trokhymets, a 30-year-old infantryman and video diarist, shared with Scripps News correspondent Jason Bellini his battlefield philosophy on “how to not be afraid to die.” Does Roman have a future as a motivational speaker? He sure hopes so.
May 13, 2023 – Shock and disbelief in Russia – Russian military lost two fighters and three helicopters in one day.
May 14, 2023 – Russia and Ukraine are gearing up for a summer of war – one that everyday people will fight. Citizen soldiers – including some trained by Australia – are headed to the frontline, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. But does Ukraine have what it takes to push Russia back? And what’s waiting for them on the other side? Here’s what you need to know about Ukraine’s counteroffensive, and why it’s such a big deal.
00:00 What’s happening with the Russia-Ukraine war?
02:13 Did the Wagner Group leave Bakhmut?
05:39 Who is fighting in Vladimir Putin’s army?
06:18 What’s Australia’s role in Ukraine’s counteroffensive?
11:17 Has Ukraine received the weapons it was promised?
14:03 What did Vladimir Putin say on Victory Day?
May 19, 2023 – Putin’s last hope is burning: Ukraine blew up the Russian military train with C4 bombs!
May 20, 2023 – With Zelenskyy thousands of kilometers away at the G7, back in Ukraine the head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group has claimed a breakthrough on the battlefield. Yevgeny Prigozhin claims in this video that his forces have fully captured the eastern city of Bakhmut. Ukraine’s military has been quick to deny the ruined city has fallen. Kyiv says its troops are still defending their positions.
May 22, 2023 – The meat grinder, hell on earth, the fortress, a blackened nightmare, and now Europe’s Hiroshima. Bakhmut has been called many things over the course of its nine-and-a-half month siege. Few descriptions capture the scale of loss and destruction. Which side – if any – has come out on top of this costly battle is unclear. The small eastern city has undoubtedly been the site of the bloodiest fighting since Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine.
It is also the longest battle since the Second World War. Thousands of men have been sent to their deaths, sucked into what has been called a vortex of savage and relentless fighting. US intelligence believes Russia has suffered about 100,000 casualties around the city since December last year alone. Some 20,000 of those are thought to have been killed. That is more than half the total number of Russians thought to have died across Ukraine since the invasion began.
May 25, 2023 – A city in ruins, thousands of fighters killed – now Russia’s Wagner mercenary group claims the battle for Bakhmut is over – at least for them. The head of the private army says his troops are withdrawing from the Ukrainian city, and handing over their positions to the Russian military. Wagner mercenaries claimed full control of the eastern Ukrainian city on Saturday, in what has been the longest battle of the war. Kyiv denies the city has fallen.
June 2, 2023 – The Battle of Bakhmut has become a puzzle for Western analysts: why has Russia spent so much on a city so apparently irrelevant? This video examines the possibility of Putin’s domestic constraints. If Putin believes that the status quo will leave his tenure in doubt, then he needs to press forward to maximize the chances he survives in office. Thus, he is willing to continue fighting in places where an objective leader might not. Bakhmut has become the target in particular because the alternative places to mount an offensive are even less attractive.
June 12, 2023 – There’s a reason Zelenskyy calls this place “Fortress Bakhmut.” During the War in Ukraine, there is perhaps no city that has seen as much combat as Bakhmut. Over a period of 5 months, Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a difficult battle, with Vladimir Putin unwilling to relent, no matter the cost. The result has been a catastrophic number of casualties for the Russian military, with over 100,000 estimated during the Battle of Bakhmut. In this video, we’ll discuss it all, including the involvement of the Wagner Group, the corruption being used to deceive soldiers to fight for Russia, and the deadly consequences for Russia as a nation.
July 04, 2023 – Day 496 – Today the biggest news comes from the east. Several hours ago, Ukrainians conducted an extensive HIMARS raid along the whole eastern contact line. The first target became the biggest Russian logistical hub on the occupied territories – Donetsk. Donetsk is one of the largest cities in Ukraine by size, and it is by far the most industrialized one, which means that it has very well-developed logistics that Russians are gladly using to accumulate and store ammunition and equipment. The footage was quickly geolocated, and it turned out that the target was quite obvious – Ukrainians struck a warehouse of the factory Sarmat, which is located just 100 meters away from the railway connection. Russian sources reported that Ukrainians used 2 HIMARS rockets to hit the facilitates. Some sources reported that Ukrainians managed to destroy the newly arrived equipment.
The second target became the twin city of Donetsk – Makiivka. Geolocated footage indicates that a powerful explosion happened on the territory of the metallurgical plant. The plant itself is extremely vast, so Russians used it to accumulate tons of ammunition. Russian sources reported that Ukrainian launched 2 HIMARS missiles here as well, and even claimed that one of the missiles was shot down, however, it did not change anything. The explosion was so powerful that the smoke covered several cities. Ukrainian military-affiliated sources confirmed that Ukrainians successfully hit a Russian ammunition depot that had just received huge supplies. The goal of these strikes was to reduce the available and ready-to-use Russian resources on the eastern front to undermine Russian defensive capabilities, in particular around Bakhmut. The creation of short-term deficits of ammunition and shells can create a perfect window of opportunity for advancement because, as you remember, Ukrainians have just 1 fortification left to overcome before they can expand south of Bakhmut.
Some analysts claimed that the ammunition depots that Ukrainians targeted today with their HIMARS predominantly contained artillery shells. And it looks like it is true because simultaneously, Ukrainians started using HIMARS for effective counterbattery fire very frequently. Today Ukrainian 43rd Artillery Brigade released a video showing how they hunted down Russian artillery on the southern Bakhmut’s flank with their HIMARS. The first target of the Ukrainians became the Gvozdika system near Zaitseve. The second target became a multiple-launch rocket system Grad near Kodema. Another target of the HIMARS missile became Gvozdica. As you can see, all of these systems were providing support to Russian troops precisely in the area of Ukrainian advancement.
However, Ukrainian HIMARS crews also conducted a series of strikes on the northern Bakhmut’s flank. Here, Ukrainians struck the 2S5 Giatsint-S system near Bakhmutske, BM-21 Grad multiple-launch rocket system nearby, the second Grad in Pokrovske, the third Grad south of Pokrovske,, a D-20 howitzer near Pidhorodne, and M109 howitzer in Bakhmut. Overall, judging by only available footage, over the last 2 days, Ukrainians destroyed 9 Russian artillery systems of various types. This is extremely important because the enemy artillery is the main factor that slows down Ukrainian advancement. If we combine the fact that Ukrainians destroyed almost a dozen Russian artillery systems with the fact that they also blew up several huge ammunition depots near Bakhmut, we can see that Ukrainians are rapidly creating very favorable conditions for a breakthrough.
July 25, 2023 – Day 517 – Today there is a lot of good news from the east. Last time, I told you that Ukrainians noticed that Russians desperately allocated troops to Klishchiivka at the expense of their flanks and Ukrainians successfully exploited a temporary weakness in a flank attack. This turned out to be the most important operation that the Ukrainians conducted because by capitalizing on their new bridgehead east of the canal, Ukrainian forces finally crushed the Russian defense. When Russians saw that Ukrainians penetrated their flanks and started getting close to Andriivka, Russian forces sent dozens of tanks to clear the tree lines and force Ukrainians to retreat. Since Russian forces lacked troops in this region, they bet that by conducting pure mechanized assaults, they would be able to eliminate troops in the tree line and prevent new forces from entering the region with fire.
Unfortunately for Russians, they lost a lot of tanks and armored fighting vehicles, never getting close to Ukrainian positions. A lot of work was done by the drone operators, who identified the movement of tanks with reconnaissance drones and immediately destroyed these tanks with kamikaze drones. After Russian offensive capabilities were exhausted, Ukrainians got close to Andriivka, established total fire control over all roads leading in and out of the settlement, and forced Russians to abandon it. And even though Andriivka is very small, it was an extremely important Russian logistical hub, as 90% of all supplies to Klishchiivka went through this settlement. Moreover, Russian forces in the forest that were preventing Ukrainians from entering the village from the south appeared in a salient and suffered from continuous crossfire.
With significantly reduced supplies and no rotation, these troops were holding onto their position only thanks to artillery fire. However, Ukrainian HIMARS crews once again visited the region and conducted effective counterbattery fire. Based only on the available footage Ukrainians destroyed multiple Russian artillery systems near Kodema, Zaitseve, and Roty. The Russian commander of the forces on the ground, general-major Vladimir Seliverstov, saw that very soon he would have no troops in subordination and started raising a lot of uncomfortable questions and demanding the high command to give him more resources. Just like in the case of general Popov, the General Staff did not like his demands and fired him on spot. Ukrainians understood that the Russian High Command decided to save equipment and compensate with the quantity of troops.
Every day, Russians reinforced Klishchiivka with more and more mobilized soldiers. This was a perfect setting for using cluster munitions. Russian sources reported that Ukrainians increased the use of cluster shells in this region by more than 10 times. Both the forest and the settlement itself became a death zone filled with bodies. Very soon, the defense was undermined, and Ukrainians finally entered the forest. This time, progress was stable, and Ukrainians were gradually clearing all trenches and shelters. Such development automatically rendered the southern side of Klishchiivka untenable, and Russian forces retreated. Later, the new Russian commander ordered the soldiers to reestablish full control over the village at all costs. Russian forces conducted a rapid counterattack, got deep into the southern part of the village, but found themselves in a pocket.
If we look at the topographic map, we can see that Ukrainians control absolutely all heights around the southern part of the settlement. A Ukrainian drone operator managed to film this disastrous operation. Russians immediately lost several armored fighting vehicles, and the last one left, leaving the infantry alone. They tried to hold an all-round defense but were eliminated within minutes. The latest reports suggest that Russians were completely forced out of Klishchiivka. Even though Ukrainians have not yet managed to establish a permanent presence in the northern part of the village due to continuous Russian counterattacks, the next Russian positions are located along the railway. Intense fights still continue but even Russian analysts agree that the outcome is determined – Russian defense will collapse much further – Ukrainians have the high ground.
July 27, 2023 – North offensive on Bakhmut! Ukrainians capture the pond and penetrate Russian defense.
August 21, 2023 – Another Russian convoy decimated – massive Russian losses – fighting in Robotyne.
00:06 Russian convoy destroyed near Klishchiivka
02:22 Russia’s massive losses exposed
03:38 Russian sources lied about capturing Synkivka
04:05 Ukrainians clearing the southern outskirts of Robotyne
September 22, 2023 – Why Ukraine’s Bakhmut gamble might just have paid off.