Inside the ‘meat grinder’: Russian and Ukrainian losses mount in Bakhmut

Warning: This story contains graphic photos

Both sides call it a “meat grinder,” with many dead soldiers, a ruined cityscape and only those who couldn’t escape still living there. Why did so many Russians and Ukrainians die for Bakhmut?

For almost six months, the eastern city has been a place of intense trench warfare, which reminds authorities and analysts of the First World War.

“Everything has been completely destroyed. There is almost no life left,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last Friday from the scene around Bakhmut and near Soledar, both in Donetsk province. “The whole land near Soledar is covered with corpses of invaders and scars of attacks.

“This is what madness looks like.”

Bakhmut has some strategic value, but military analysts say it is disproportionate to the damage and destruction of war. However, Ukraine, Russia and the Wagner Group are fighting for a political and symbolic victory worth Bakhmut can bring.

Footage of the battlefield suggests intense fighting for relatively low ground, with front lines moving back and forth.

The fighting was “the strongest on the entire front line,” Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov said.

“So many remain on the battlefield … dead or wounded,” he said on YouTube. “They attack our position in waves, but the wounded as a rule die where they lie, because of the extreme cold or because of loss of blood.”

Ukrainian forces fighting in Bakhmut and Soledar said the attacks came in waves of small groups, each with no more than 15 soldiers.

The first wave was mostly wiped out, said Taras Berezovets, a Ukrainian journalist, political commentator and officer in the Ukrainian army. He said pro-Russian forces would retreat after defeat and leave a white ribbon for the next wave.

But while Ukrainian authorities focused on Russian losses, Ukrainian deaths and injuries also piled up.

Wounded soldiers arrived around the clock for emergency treatment at a Ukrainian field hospital located near the front line around Bakhmut.

Medics there fought for 30 minutes on Monday to save one soldier, but he was seriously injured.

Another suffered head injuries after shrapnel blew off his helmet. Medics quickly stabilized him enough to send him to a military hospital for further treatment.

“We fought until the end to save lives,” said surgeon Kostnyantyn Vasylkevich. “It must be painful if we can’t save it.”

Why are they fighting?

This battle has been going on since August. Why do they both care so much about this particular city?

The city has, since then, become Moscow’s “main offensive effort” despite its “limited operational value,” the British Ministry of Defense tweeted in December.

Taking Bakhmut would potentially allow Russia to threaten the larger urban areas – Kramatorsk and Sloviansk – but the battle was “disproportionately costly to the gains,” the ministry said.

“There is a real possibility that the capture of Bakhmut has become a symbolic political goal for Russia.”

The ministry said Tuesday that Russian forces and Wagner mercenaries are now in control of Soledar after four days of advancing.

If confirmed, it would be Russia’s biggest gain since last August.

Moscow’s desire to win is fueled by the presence of the Wagner Group, a company run by an ally of President Vladimir Putin,

Its founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has confirmed that they are fighting for the city, which Russia calls Artyomovsk, the Soviet-era name.

They were among Russian prisoners, released under a deal that would have given them amnesty if they fought for six months. But if they joined and deserted, they faced execution.

In November, independent Russian news outlet Mediazona reported that publicly available data from Russia’s Federal Prison Service showed the overall prison population shrank by more than 23,000 people in September and October, indicating many inmates took up Prigozhin’s offer.

Prigozhin will receive a political victory that will bring him to Moscow. Meanwhile, the US says Prighozhin wants to control the salt and gypsum from the mines.

For Ukraine, experts say, the importance of capturing Bakhmut – apart from its value as a symbol of Ukrainian resistance – is partly about securing support from Western countries that have provided arms for Ukraine’s war.

With Ukraine has scored a string of successful battles, even the relatively insignificant risk of defeat creates an understanding of the stalemate, which can make Western countries less willing to extend support to Kyiv amid increasing economic problems stemming from the war.

‘Our city used to be so beautiful’

Meanwhile, the few ordinary citizens left in the city are trying to survive.

Bakhmut was home to about 70,000 people before the war, but even a few months ago the population was estimated at around 10,000.

The intense attack left 60 percent of the city in ruins, Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said last week.

Like Mariupol and other contested cities, Bakhmut endured a long siege without water and power.

“People who leave move to stay with their children or their siblings. They have a place to go,” resident Ilona Ierhilieieva said in October while mixing soup on an open fire on the side of the road. “But for us, we have nowhere to go. That’s why we’re here.”

Last week, a drive around Bakhmut by Reuters revealed the scars of months of bombardment, from destroyed shops to destroyed workshops and damaged businesses.

Volunteers like 30-year-old Vasyl Liesin help maintain “invincibility centers,” set up to provide free electricity, heat, water, internet service, cell phone connections and medicine as Russian attacks destroy basic civilian infrastructure.

The center can show enthusiasm, but is far from immune.

“When we visited another invincibility point yesterday for 15, 20 minutes, a rocket hit us. It destroyed a volunteer vehicle, killed one person, and wounded four,” said Liesin, who was wearing a helmet and flak jacket.

“Volunteers were injured, and one local Bakhmut volunteer lost a limb and was evacuated. I hope they are in protective gear, but the situation is unclear. We know they are seriously injured.”

Olha, 75, well-dressed and wearing lipstick, recalled carrying shopping bags on Bahkmut Street last week.

“My God, our city used to be so beautiful,” he said.

“There are roses everywhere, flowers,” he added, barely flinching at the distant boom.