The Ukrainian military is determined to hold onto Bakhmut, despite encroaching Russian forces and intense shelling. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed the situation with military leaders on Monday, who expressed their support for strengthening positions in Bakhmut and continuing the defensive operation. The nearby towns of Chasiv Yar and Kostiantynivka also came under heavy shelling, causing damage to homes and cars and sparking a fire. Police and volunteers evacuated people from these front-line towns, which have been left in ruins by constant artillery fire.
Russia is attempting to surround Bakhmut to secure its first major gain in over six months of fighting. Its capture would be the culmination of a winter offensive that has brought the bloodiest fighting of the war. Ukrainian troops have been reinforcing positions west of Bakhmut in preparation for a possible retreat, but reports from commanders on Monday suggest they have not yet decided to pull out. The intense battle has depleted both sides’ artillery reserves, and Kyiv’s European allies are working on a deal to procure more ammunition for the fight.
Despite the importance of Bakhmut, Washington has said that even if the city falls to Russia, it would not signify a shift in the war’s momentum. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that its capture “won’t necessarily mean that the Russians have changed the tide of this fight” and that it has more symbolic than strategic value. Moscow says capturing the city would be a step towards its major objective of seizing all of the surrounding Donbas region, while Kyiv says Russia’s losses in trying to seize a city reduced to rubble could determine the future course of the war by destroying combat power ahead of potentially decisive battles later this year.
Ukraine’s ground forces commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, visited Bakhmut on Sunday and reported that the Wagner Group, a Russian mercenary army, had thrown additional forces into the fight. However, he said that Ukraine’s soldiers were battling on and had inflicted significant losses on the enemy. Volodymyr Nazarenko, a Ukrainian commander in Bakhmut, said there had been no order to retreat and “the defence is holding”, albeit in grim conditions.
In the latest sign of a feud between Russia’s military and the Wagner Group leading its Bakhmut assault, Wagner’s boss demanded more ammunition and said his aide had been barred from the military’s operational headquarters. Yevgeny Prigozhin warned in a Russian social media post that the situation in Bakmut “will turn out to be a ‘pie’”, with Ukrainian forces surrounded by Wagner Group fighters. Colonel General Syrskyi noted after visiting Bakhmut that the fight has escalated with the deployment of additional Wagner forces.
Despite facing a shortage of ammunition, Russian forces have intensified their attacks on Bakhmut in recent days. Groups of 30 people have been trying to break through Ukrainian defence lines, but they have so far failed. For Russian President Vladimir Putin, prevailing in Bakhmut would deliver some good news from the front. For Kyiv, holding onto the city reinforces a message that Ukraine is holding on after a year of brutal attacks and justifies continued support from its Western allies.