Global Courant 2023-05-21 21:25:53
Russia claims it has completely captured Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, but Kiev says it still controls part of the city.
Bakhmut, which once had a population of some 70,000, has endured eight months of fierce fighting in the bloodiest battle since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated his troops and the private army of the Wagner group for “liberating” the city on Saturday, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that while Russian troops are in Bakhmut, the city is “unoccupied”.
Colonel General Oleksandr Syrsky, commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, said on Sunday that Ukrainian troops are approaching capture of the city in a tactical encirclement. Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said Ukrainian forces are advancing “in the suburbs on the flanks” and have “half surrounded the city”.
But why has Bakhmut, a rather sleepy, unremarkable town nestled in the salt mining region of eastern Ukraine, become so important in the war between Russia and Ukraine? Here’s what you need to know:
Limited strategic value
In order for Russia to push further into Ukraine and achieve Putin’s goal of “liberating the Donbas”, Russia must capture Bakhmut.
However, the sheer amount of emphasis both sides have placed on the city goes far beyond any strategic value. If either side fully captured Bakhmut, they would face a series of defensive lines surrounding it.
The city’s importance lies instead in the symbolic weight it has garnered over months of bitter, entrenched fighting.
For Ukraine, it has become an example of stubborn, determined resistance. The city has seen some of the most intense fighting since Russia’s invasion. Images of blood-soaked trench warfare are shared on messaging app Telegram, and “Bakhmut holds!” is a popular slogan on social media.
Russia, on the other hand, needs a win. After initial advances in the first months of the full-scale invasion, a successful Ukrainian counter-offensive recaptured large swaths of territory in a series of humiliating defeats for Russian forces.
As the Russian military lost face, the Wagner Group, a group of mercenaries hardened by years of deployment in Syria and various African countries, entered the battle for Bakhmut late last year.
Since then, the Russian offensive in Bakhmut has become synonymous with the group, and its aggressive chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has called out and publicly berated senior Russian military leaders for failing to supply his troops with sufficient ammunition.
A victory for Russia in Bakhmut could also be seen as a victory for Prigozhin and possibly raise his prestige with the Kremlin.
Smoke rises from buildings in this aerial view of Bakhmut, the site of Ukraine’s heaviest battles involving Russian troops in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, on April 26, 2023 (Libkos/AP)
What would the fall of Bakhmut mean for Ukraine?
Speaking at the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Japan’s Hiroshima, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that the city was “completely destroyed,” suggesting a possible defeat by Kiev would be seen as a pyrrhic victory for Russia.
The city’s loss could be a blow to Ukraine’s morale after so many months of bitter fighting. It is not known exactly how many troops on both sides died in the conflict, but Moscow and Kiev have both claimed to have killed hundreds in a single day.
It would come at a time when Ukraine is expected to launch a long-awaited counter-offensive, which could raise concerns among Ukraine’s allies.
In March, Zelenskyy said that if Bakhmut falls, Russia could gain international support for a deal that could force Ukraine to make unacceptable compromises.
What would the conquest of Bakhmut mean for Russia?
The fall of the city could be a huge morale boost for Russia, which needs its first major victory in more than 10 months.
Since the second half of 2022, reports from the front lines of the war have reflected Ukrainian progress in some areas and a harrowing stalemate in others. Russia has launched several waves of drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities, but has not claimed any significant territorial gains.
Putin congratulated both Wagner’s private army and regular Russian forces in a statement, indicating that the leader is eager to close the arduous, resource-consuming chapter in Russia’s efforts to seize the Donbas region.
Strategically, a victory at Bakhmut could open a way further west, possibly to Kramatorsk, a city of about 150,000 before the war. However, Ukraine heavily fortified the areas around the city of Bakhmut.
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