The eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region has been raging for weeks. The Russian troops are trying to advance with all their might. The Ukrainians, for their part, are trying to keep the fortified front.
Volodymyr Zelensky, 44, said in his daily video address on Saturday evening: “In the Donetsk region – Bakhmut, Soledar – it is still the hottest, the most painful. We are doing everything we can to help our boys there. Everyone there deserves our deepest gratitude !» There are heavy casualties on both sides every day.
British military experts say Russian troops are engaged in a disproportionately costly battle. The benefit of capturing the city is disproportionate to the price Moscow pays for it, the Defense Ministry’s daily intelligence update on the war in Ukraine said in London on Saturday.
mud in the trenches
But the Ukrainian soldiers also have to defend their homeland against artillery under the most difficult conditions. The weather and temperatures make their work difficult. Last week, a volunteer posted photos from the front showing soldiers in trenches filled with water and mud.
The photos even remind some observers of the First World War. The images of devastation and destruction would resemble scenes in the French city of Verdun, Markus Reisner, an Austrian historian and military expert, told ORF.
In 1916, one of the longest and most costly battles of the First World War took place there. In October, the entire attack area – similar to Bachmut – had turned into one mud field due to the heavy rain. After the German attack, the French managed to recapture almost a year later.