A video published by Ukraine's military this week reveals scenes of intense fighting in the city of Bakhmut, in the country's eastern Donetsk region, which remains one of the fiercest battlegrounds of the war.
The footage was published by Ukraine's ground forces on Facebook on Friday.
Russian and Ukrainian forces have been engaged in a fight for the city since the summer of 2022, in what has become the longest-running battle since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February that same year.
Moscow is hoping to secure its first major battlefield victory since the summer of 2022 by capturing Bakhmut, a small industrial city with a pre-war population of about 70,000. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has said that the country's armed forces will be able to advance deep inside Ukraine if Bakhmut falls.
Until recently, the Wagner Group, Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin's paramilitary outfit founded in 2014, had been leading an offensive in the area. His fighters have reportedly been gradually replaced by conventional troops in the city.
Explosions and gunshots can be heard throughout the three-minute-long clip from Ukraine's ground forces. It shows Ukrainian soldiers taking cover in destroyed buildings riddled with holes, and smoke rising into the air after apparent explosions in the city's streets.
Russia's Defense Ministry said on Thursday that its troops were preventing Ukrainian forces from entering or retreating Bakhmut.
"Airborne troops are providing support to advancing assault troops, blocking the transfer of Ukrainian army reserves to the city and the possibility of retreat for enemy units," it said in a statement.
Sergiy Cherevaty, spokesman for Ukraine's eastern forces, has pushed back against the claims and said Kyiv's troops were able to evacuate personnel wounded in battle and "deliver provisions, ammunition, and medicines." Newsweek has contacted the Ukrainian Defense Ministry by email.
Prigozhin has said it was still "too early" to say that the city was surrounded. He said Tuesday that Russian forces controlled more than 80 percent of Bakhmut.
Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine's minister of internal affairs, has outlined the importance of Bakhmut remaining under Ukrainian control.
He told Newsweek on February 17 that Bakhmut is "a live wall that allows us to prepare our troops for de-occupation"—implying that a successful defense of the city could put the Ukrainians in a position to launch a counteroffensive, which is expected in the coming months.
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Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Isabel van Brugen is a Newsweek Reporter based in Kuala Lumpur. Her focus is reporting on the Russia-Ukraine war. Isabel ... Read more
