Battle of Bakhmut

Battle of Bakhmut
The battle of Bakhmut is a major battle taking place between the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the Russian Armed Forces in and around the city of Bakhmut during the larger eastern Ukraine campaign. It is one of the longest and bloodiest battles of the war so far.
While the shelling of Bakhmut began in May 2022, the main assault towards the city started on 1 August after Russian forces advanced from the direction of Popasna following a Ukrainian withdrawal from that front. The main assault force consisted primarily of mercenaries from the Russian paramilitary organization Wagner Group, supported by regular Russian troops and reportedly Donetsk People's Republic militia elements.
As of late 2022, following Ukraine's Kharkiv and Kherson counteroffensives, the Bakhmut–Soledar front became an important focus of the war, being one of the few front lines where Russia remained on the offensive. Attacks on the city intensified in November 2022, as assaulting Russian forces were reinforced by units redeployed from the Kherson front, together with newly mobilized recruits. By this time, much of the front line had descended into positional trench warfare, with both sides suffering high casualties without any significant advances. By using repeated assaults composed of former convicts, Wagner troops were able to gradually gain ground, and by February 2023, they captured territory in the north and south of Bakhmut and threatened encirclement, forcing Ukrainian forces to slowly pull out into the city, and the battle turned into fierce urban warfare. By March 2023, Russian forces captured the eastern half of the city, up to the Bakhmutka river, and continued to advance into Ukrainian-controlled parts of Bakhmut.
On 20 May 2023, Bakhmut had been mostly captured by Russian forces, with the Ukrainian military controlling only a small strip of the city proper along the T0504 highway. Nonetheless, Ukraine started counterattacks on Russia's flanks, seeking to encircle the city. Around the same time on 25 May, Wagner began withdrawing from the city to be replaced by regular Russian troops, amidst heavy internal squabbles between Wagner leadership and Russian high command.
Although initially a target with lesser tactical importance, Bakhmut became one of the central battles of the Russo-Ukrainian War due to the heavy investment of manpower and resources both sides used to control the city. The battle of Bakhmut has been described as a "meat grinder" and a "vortex" for both the Ukrainian and Russian militaries. The intensity of the battle and the high number of casualties has been compared to the Battle of Verdun in World War I, as well as to the fighting in World War II.
Background
Bakhmut, formerly known as Artemivsk, was the site of the 2014 Battle of Artemivsk between Ukraine and the self-declared separatist Donetsk People's Republic. Pro-Russian separatists had captured parts of the city during the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine in April, and a Ukrainian special forces unit together with the National Guard were dispatched to expel the separatists from the city. The separatists were expelled to the city's outskirts where clashes continued until July 2014, when they finally retreated from the area.
During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a key Russian goal was to capture the Donbas region, consisting of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. The initial push for Bakhmut was part of an attempt to encircle the Ukrainian forces at the Sievierodonetsk-Lysychansk salient; together with another push from the Lyman direction, it would create a pocket and trap Ukrainian forces there. Starting on 17 May, Russian forces began shelling Bakhmut, killing five people including a two-year-old child.
After the fall of Popasna on 22 May, Ukrainian forces withdrew away from the city to reinforce positions at Bakhmut. Meanwhile, Russian forces managed to advance on the Bakhmut-Lysychansk highway, endangering the remaining Ukrainian troops in the Lysychansk-Sievierodonetsk area. The Russian checkpoint along the highway was later demolished, although fighting resumed on 30 May along the Kostiantynivka-Bakhmut highway, where Ukrainian forces successfully defended the highway.
Shelling of Bakhmut continued throughout the rest of June and July, escalating after the battle of Siversk began on 3 July. Following the battles of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk in early July, Russian and separatist forces captured all of Luhansk oblast, and the battlefield shifted towards the cities of Bakhmut, and Soledar. On 25 July, Ukrainian forces withdrew from the Vuhlehirska Power Station, along with the nearby town of Novoluhanske, giving Russian and separatist forces a "small tactical advantage" towards Bakhmut. Two days later on 27 July, Russian shelling of Bakhmut killed three civilians and wounded three more.
Prior to the battle in Bakhmut, Ukrainian Brigadier General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi claimed that Russia held a five-to-one manpower advantage over Ukraine along the eastern front.
Russian offensive campaign
Early shelling and Russian encroachment (August–October 2022)
On 1 August, Russian forces launched massive ground attacks on settlements south and southeast of Bakhmut. Both the Russian Ministry of Defense and pro-Russian Telegram pages claimed that the battle of Bakhmut had begun. The following day, Ukraine reported that Russian forces had increased airstrikes and shelling of Bakhmut, beginning a ground attack on the southeastern part of the city. On 4 August, Wagner Group mercenaries managed to break through Ukrainian defenses and reach Patrice Lumumba street on the eastern outskirts of Bakhmut. In the following days, Russian forces continued to push towards Bakhmut from the south, with the Ukrainian general staff stating on 14 August that Russian forces had achieved "partial success" near Bakhmut, but offering no specifics.
Night shelling in the city center on 21 September burned the Martynov Palace of Culture, where the humanitarian headquarters worked. During the extinguishing of the fire, the local fire department was shelled, which reported that two SES staff were injured and equipment damaged. At night, a five-story building was partially destroyed by Russian shelling. A Russian missile strike on 22 September destroyed the main bridge across the Bakhmutka river that bisects the city, disrupting both civilian travel and Ukrainian military logistics.
By 26 September, the 144th Guards Motor Rifle Division, which had a prewar strength of over 12,000 troops, had been largely destroyed and rendered combat ineffective as a result of heavy casualties sustained in the fighting.
On 7 October, Russian forces advanced into the villages of Zaitseve and Opytne on the southern and southeastern outskirts of Bakhmut, while on 10 October, the UK Defence Ministry claimed that Russian troops advanced closer to Bakhmut. On 12 October, Russian forces claimed to have captured Opytne, located 3 km south of Bakhmut, and Ivanhrad, although these towns were still contested. Ukrainian sources said a minor counteroffensive on 24 October pushed Russian forces from some factories on the eastern outskirts of the city, along Patrice Lumumba street.
Early winter escalation (November–December 2022)
By early November, much of the fighting around Bakhmut had descended into trench warfare conditions, with neither side making any significant breakthroughs and hundreds of casualties reported daily amid fierce shelling and artillery duels. On 1 November, Ukrainian journalist described the evolving nature of the battle in an interview. Butusov noted that Russian forces had suffered "huge losses every day" assaulting Bakhmut and its outskirts since early May, but insisted that they were adapting their tactics against increasingly exhausted Ukrainian defenders. He noted that the Russians were concentrating multiple small groups of infantry to break defense lines on "narrow" sections of the front.
Russian milbloggers claimed that Russian forces breached defense lines on Bakhmut's southern approach, allegedly capturing the villages of Andriivka, Ozarianivka, and Zelenopillia and making minor advances in Opytne through 28–29 November. Wagner troops attacked Kurdyumivka, adjacent to Ozarianivka, with some Russian milbloggers claiming the settlement was captured. Russian forces also attacked Ukrainian positions southeast of Bakhmut. On 3 December, Serhii Cherevatyi, a spokesperson for Ukraine's Eastern Command, described the Bakhmut front as "the most bloody, cruel and brutal sector ... in the Russian-Ukrainian war so far", adding that the Russians had conducted 261 artillery attacks in the past day alone.
The same day, a Georgia military volunteer told the media that a group of Georgian volunteers had been surrounded during clashes near Bakhmut. The commander was wounded and five or six volunteers, serving in Ukraine's 57th Brigade, had been killed, prompting Georgian president Salome Zourabichvili to express condolences. On 6–7 December, the Russian defense ministry claimed that their forces, including Wagner fighters, had successfully repelled Ukrainian counterattacks south of Bakhmut. The commander of the Ukraine National Guard's Svoboda Battalion, defending Bakhmut's southern flank, said they were "fighting for every bush" and predicted Russia would struggle to overcome a canal above and behind Kudriumivka.
On 9 December, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of "destroying" Bakhmut, calling it "another Donbas city that the Russian army turned into burnt ruins". Former soldier and eyewitness to the battle Petro Stone called the Bakhmut front a "meat grinder", saying the Russians were "covering Bakhmut with fire 24/7". Soldiers of Ukraine's 24th Mechanized Brigade recounted recent battlefield engagements to media, such as one multi-day firefight with 50 Russian troops dug into a treeline where in some places "we were only 100 metres apart". Ukrainian soldiers claimed that front line Russian troops often attacked with little tank support, with Wagner PMC fighters serving as the main assault troops and under-equipped mobiks (recently mobilized Russian recruits) holding defensive positions. One Ukrainian artillerymen alleged that "80 percent" of the remaining civilian population, surviving in basements and supplied by mobile grocery trucks that periodically enter the city, was pro-Russian.
On 11 December a railway bridge over the E40 (M-03) highway north of Bakhmut was destroyed; the Russians accused the Ukrainians of demolishing it to hamper future Russian advances towards Sloviansk.
On 13 December, Russian sources claimed that proper urban street fighting had begun in the eastern and southeastern sectors of Bakhmut, particularly along Pershotravnevyy avenue up to Dobroliubova street in Zabakhmutka, while also claiming that 90% of Opytne had been captured amid fierce Ukrainian resistance. The Ukrainian General Staff said they successfully repelled assaults northeast and south of Bakhmut from the Soledar and Kurdiumivka directions, respectively. On 17 December, footage emerged online of trenches in Bakhmut's city center, indicating Ukrainian defenders were preparing for urban combat.
On 18–19 December, Ukrainian forces, purportedly including dismounted infantry supported by British-donated Wolfhound Tactical Supply Vehicles, counterattacked along Fyodor Maksimenko Street and pushed Wagner forces back to the eastern outskirts of the suburban area amid "grinding" street clashes. Meanwhile, Ukraine's Joint Forces Task Force reported repelling "five to seven" Russian infiltration groups near Bakhmut daily. A Ukrainian commander reported that an abundance of drone surveillance allowed for quick responses to small Russian assaults on the outskirts, while also alleging that Russia did not control Bakhmut's eastern industrial zone. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Western think tank and war observer, could not independently verify the claim of Ukraine entirely controlling the outskirts at the time.
On 20–21 December, President Zelenskyy made an unannounced visit to the Bakhmut front, where he met with soldiers, awarded medals and delivered speeches. Meanwhile, heavy shelling and fighting on Bakhmut's outskirts continued as Russian forces continuously attempted to break entrenched Ukrainian positions on the city's flanks. Reportedly, Wagner fighters were assaulting strongholds in Bakhmutske, Pidhorodne, and Klishciivka, located along Bakhmut's northeastern and southwestern flanks respectively, while the Ukrainians continued to hold northern Opytne, blunting Russia's advance from the south.
On 26 December, Ukraine's governor of Donetsk, Pavlo Kyrylenko, said over 60 percent of Bakhmut's infrastructure was damaged or destroyed. The ISW judged that Russia's advance on Bakhmut had "culminated" by 28 December, assessing that Russian and Wagner forces had grown increasingly unable to sustain the previous scale of infantry assaults and artillery barrages. By early January 2023, the pace of fighting and rate of artillery fire in the Bakhmut sector had significantly decreased, and The Kyiv Independent remarked that the battle was "near culmination".
Fall of Soledar and near-encirclement (January–April 2023)
Following a local offensive in early January 2023, Russian forces captured the nearby town of Soledar, located north of Bakhmut, by 16 January 2023. In its 7 January assessment, the ISW had considered the capture of Soledar as helping Russian forces to advance on Bakhmut from the north, although they claimed that Russian troops would need to cut off the T0513 highway between Siversk and Bakhmut to strangle Ukrainian supply lines to Bakhmut.
In February, Russian forces solidified gains north of Bakhmut and began pressuring Ukrainian troops on the northern front, making incremental gains in the towns north of the city. On 1 February, The New York Times reported that Russians had increased the intensity of attacks on Bakhmut and its surrounding areas. Days later on 5 February, the British Ministry of Defence stated that Russian troops were able to fire upon the M03 and H32 roads north of the city, the main Ukrainian supply route for northern Bakhmut. On 11 February, Russian forces captured the village of Krasna Hora northeast of Bakhmut. Around this time, analysts suggested Russian losses had increased to 820 casualties a day between Bakhmut and the battle of Vuhledar. By 13 February, the Ukrainian government claimed their defenses in the village of Paraskoviivka were waning, with fierce battles around the clock. By 22 February, Russian forces encircled Bakhmut from the east, south, and north.
By 3 March, Ukrainian soldiers destroyed two key bridges, creating the possibility for a controlled fighting withdrawal. On 4 March, Bakhmut's deputy mayor told news services that there was street fighting but that Russian forces had not taken control of the city. On 4 March, the chief of the Wagner Group said that the city was encircled except for one road still controlled by the Ukrainian military, as had been the case since 22 February. On 5 March Ukrainian commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said the fighting had reached the "highest level of tension".
On 7 March, Ukraine withdrew from areas of Bakhmut east of the Bakhmutka river, making the river the front line between the opposing forces. On 9 March, the , which had become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance in Bakhmut during the battle, was destroyed by Russian forces. On 11 March, the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence said that by this point in the fighting Wagner Group units were "taking the lead in fighting", and that the river had become a "killing zone" for Wagner units while at the same time Ukrainian forces were at risk of being cut off. On 22 March 2023, the UK MoD noted that "There is a realistic possibility that the Russian assault on the town (Bakhmut) is losing the limited momentum it had achieved, in part because some Russian Ministry of Defense units have been redeployed to other sectors."
On 26 March, Wagner forces claimed they had fully captured the strategically significant Azom factory in Bakhmut. This was confirmed later by military analysts. On 6 April, Russian forces took control of the city center. On 17 April, the of the city was destroyed by retreating Ukrainian soldiers belonging to the 77th Airmobile Brigade to prevent the building from being used as a refuge by Russian forces. On 18 April, Ukrainian General Oleksandr Syrskyi reported that Russia was "increasing the activity of heavy artillery and the number of air strikes, turning the city into ruins".
On 26 April, the Ukrainian Air Force dropped four 500-pound GBU-62/B JDAM glide bombs on a high-rise building in the Russian-controlled part of Bakhmut, possibly from two MiG-29s. Both sides have destroyed high-rise buildings in Bakhmut to prevent them from being used "as ammo dumps, fighting positions and observation posts."
The Institute for the Study of War assessed that by the beginning of May 2023 Ukraine had controlled 1.89 square kilometers (4.54%) of the city.
Culmination of Russian attack and Ukrainian counterattacks
Ukrainian flanking counterattacks (May 2023)
On 1 May, Ukrainian spokesman Serhiy Cherevaty gave an estimate as to the current strength of Russian forces attacking the city. He stated that "on the Bakhmut direction, 25,600 personnel, 65 tanks, 450 armored fighting vehicles, 154 guns, 56 rocket salvo systems are fighting against us".
On 2 May, Yevgeny Prigozhin complained that there was a shortage of ammunition, with his forces needing 300 tonnes a day. Within a few days, Prigozhin threatened that he would withdraw all Wagner personnel from the city by 10 May, the day after Victory Day. He denounced Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, saying: "in the absence of ammunition [Wagner personnel are] doomed to perish senselessly."
On 6 May, Ukrainian military sources reported that the Russians were shelling the city with phosphorus munitions, with several videos and photos being released that showed the effects of the bombardment. The BBC, analyzing the footage, said that while the footage definitely showed Russian forces using some sort of incendiary munitions, it was unable to verify that it was phosphorus specifically.
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov agreed to replace Wagner forces with Chechen units in the city according to Yevgeny Prigozhin. On 7 May Prigozhin announced that Valery Gerasimov would resume artillery ammunition distribution to the Wagner forces, that Wagner forces would be staying in Bakhmut, and that Sergey Surovikin would be acting as an intermediary between Wagner and the Russian Ministry of Defense. The ISW assessed that Gerasimov likely agreed to keep Kadyrov out of the Russian High Command and the situation showcased that the Russian Ministry of Defense is having difficulty commanding Wagner forces.
On 9 May, Prigozhin accused the regular Russian army forces of "[running] away" from their positions, while his own Wagner forces were allegedly forbidden from retreating. According to him, any Wagner "withdrawal from the positions would be considered high treason." He also accused the Ministry of Defense of only giving his troops 10% of what was promised, causing high Wagner casualties, and threatened that if he did not receive ammunition, his forces would withdraw from their positions. He said that the Ministry of Defense was more focused on internal power struggles and "intrigues" than actually fighting. The Ukrainians themselves later supported this account, with their 3rd Separate Assault Brigade stating on Telegram that the 72nd Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade had "escaped" from the city and the remaining troops had suffered very high casualties.
Later, Ukrainian authorities published more details of the engagement, and of further counterattacks. General Oleksandr Syrskyi claimed that the Russians had been forced back over 2 km (1.2 miles) in the attack, with spokesman Serhiy Cherevaty further claiming that 11 IFVs, two armored personnel carriers, a light artillery tractor, five field ammunition depots, and one Zala UAV were destroyed. He also said that Prigozhin's claim of ammunition shortages were false, with the Russians "pummeling" their positions. The Ukrainians later published more details of the engagement. Their 3rd Assault Brigade had cleared an area 1,730 metres wide and 700 metres deep, "shattering" units of the Russian 72nd Brigade and killing 23 soldiers and wounding over 40. One tank and 4 AFVs were also destroyed, with Ukrainian Border Guards also repelling Russian advances from within the city itself, destroying an 11-man assault group.
On 12 May, the ISW confirmed that Ukrainian forces had expelled Russian troops from the southern bank of the Berkhivske Reservoir about 4 kilometers northwest of Bakhmut. On 15 May, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, Ukrainian Commander of Ground Forces, wrote on Telegram: "The advance of our troops along the Bakhmut direction is the first success of offensive actions in the defence of Bakhmut."
On 16 May, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry claimed that their forces had liberated 20 square kilometers in the north and south of the suburbs of Bakhmut, while also admitting that the Russians had made some advances in the city itself, by using both paratroopers and artillery.
On 18 May, Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin said that Russian military had withdrawn up to 570 meters (1,880 feet) to the north of the city, exposing Wagner's flanks, while his soldiers had advanced up to 400 meters inside the city. The same day, The New York Times reported that Ukraine had made small yet successful advances upon the Russians from the north and the southern borders of Bakhmut. On 19 May, both Ukrainian sources confirmed the Russian retreat around the city of Bakhmut. The advance claimed by Ukrainians was a mile in some areas or "150 to 1,700 metres". A Ukrainian commander, Petro Podaru, said that Russia artillery fire has switched to try to stop Ukrainian forces from "deliver(ing) more infantry, ammunition and other things" via access road to the West of Bakhmut. On the same day, the Ukrainians said that the Russians had recently deployed several thousand more troops to the Bakhmut front.
On 20 May, Prigozhin claimed the capture of Bakhmut city by Wagner forces, which would hand over the gained territories to the regular Russian forces before withdrawing. Claims of Wagner victory were denied by Ukraine. Ukrainian deputy minister of defence Hanna Maliar claimed that the "situation is critical", but Ukrainian forces were still in control of areas of the city. Later, the Russian Defense Ministry also claimed that the city had been captured. Additionally, in their 20 May report, the ISW was unable to confirm Prigozhin's claim and reiterated Maliar's claim that fighting continues. Furthermore, on 21 May, they confirmed reports that on 20 May, the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade had recaptured a region 1,750 meters wide and 700 meters deep in the suburbs.
On 21 May, the Ukrainian Defence Ministry claimed its forces were holding on to a sector of the city, while partly encircling its outskirts although officials described their holdout along the T0504 highway as "insignificant". Based on this, the ISW concluded that Ukrainian forces had withdrawn from the city, except some areas near the highway running into the city. At this time, Prigozhin again insisted the entirety of Bakhmut had been captured "right up to the last centimetre" and added that Wagner made no advances on 21 May as they were preparing to withdraw from the embattled city later in the week. Geolocated footage published on 21 May showed that Wagner forces had advanced towards the Ukrainian holdout at the T0504 highway entrance. Despite this, Ukrainian officials reiterated that fighting in the city was continuing and that Ukraine held positions in a fortified area on the western part of the city. Furthermore, fighting was taking place as of 22 May in localities neighboring Bakhmut. On 23 May, Ukrainian General Staff did not declare fighting in Bakhmut for the first time since December 2022. Ukrainian officials insisted that Ukraine held a position near the former MiG-17 monument in western Bakhmut in spite of footage showing Wagner forces near the monument. Fighting in the localities around Bakhmut continued.
On 25 May, in a video on Telegram, Prigozhin promised to withdraw all Wagner forces from Bakhmut by 1 June to transfer full control to Russian units. The ISW assessed in their 25 May report that the units supplanting Wagner forces within the city where from the DNR People's Militia. The ISW also noted that Ukraine still controls a strip of territory within city limits near the MiG-17 monument. In their 26 May report, the ISW cited Russian millblogers reporting that Ukrainian forces saw success in counteroffensives against Russian forces near Orikhovo-Vasylivka and Klischiivka, northwest and southwest of Bakhmut.
In their 27 May report, the ISW noted a drastic decrease in Russian offensive activities in and around Bakhmut, Hanna Maliar attributed this to Russian forces performing relief in place operations to cover Wagner withdrawals. They did note failed Russian attacks against the suburbs of Khromove and Predtechyne and that there was no change to the status of the Ukrainian controlled strip in the southwest of city limits. The British Ministry of Defense and the ISW assessed that the unit supplanting Wagner is the 132nd Separate Guard Motorized Rifle Brigade of the DNR's 1st Army Corps reflecting Russia's attempts to have the city be incorporated into the DNR. The ISW also speculated that Russia would redirect their forces from Bakhmut to the Avdiivka-Donetsk front. The ISW stated that the 31st Guards Air Assault Brigade had recently been sent to Bakhmut to cover Russian flanks.
Prigozhin said on 28 May that regular Russian forces where performing relief operations, and that the full withdrawal of Wagner forces would not take place until 5 June. Russian attacks remained low, with only two attacks against the suburbs of Orikhovo-Vasylivka and Ivanivske, both of which where unsuccessful. The status of the Ukrainian controlled strip within city limits remained unchanged. Ukrainian Colonel Serhiy Cherevaty reported one instance of fighting near Bakhmut and published geolocated footage that indicated that Russian forces made marginal gains west of Klishchiivka, seven kilometres southwest of Bakhmut.
There was a low rate of Russian attacks in Bakhmut on 29 May report, with only one unsuccessful attack against Orikhovo-Vasylivka. The ISW stated that the Russian 106th Guards Airborne Division had been sent to reinforce their northern flank. Both sides were less active in offensive operations in the Bakhmut direction on 30 May.
In their 31 May report, the ISW reported that Russian forces launched unsuccessful attacks against Orikhovo-Vasylivka, Bila Hora, Khromove, Ivanivske and Klishchiivka. They also noted that the DNR's 1st "Wolves" Sabotage and Reconnaissance Brigade were active in Zaliznianske. The ISW further assessed that Russia is cycling the DNR irregulars out of the Avdiivka-Donetsk front to be replaced by regular Russian forces in Bakhmut which, in turn, will be sent to Avdiivka-Donetsk.
Continued flanking attacks and Wagner withdrawal (1–14 June 2023)
On 1 June, Russian forces launched unsuccessful attacks against Orikhovo-Vasylivka and Bila Hora. Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar stated on 31 May that Ukrainian forces maintained control over the southwestern outskirts and entrance to Bakhmut City. Only 90 Wagner personnel remained within the city; they were expected to leave by 5 June. Ukrainian Colonel Serhiy Cherevaty claimed that Russian units did not participate in the Wagner forces' attrition style of warfare, and instead used a defensive strategy.
On 2 June, Prigozhin claimed that Russian military forces were attempting to attack his forces using anti-tank mines. He claimed that none of his men were injured by the charges. On 3 June, the ISW and the British Ministry of Defence stated that degraded Russian Airborne Forces, including those of the 76th Guards Air Assault Division, 106th Guards Airborne Division, and two other unspecified brigades had deployed to the Bakhmut area. Russian forces launched an unsuccessful attack against Ivanivske and there were ongoing conflicts in the city's northern and southern flanks.
On 4 June, Prigozhin stated that Ukrainian forces might have regained areas along the T0504 Highway, which had been controlled by Ukrainian forces since 21 May according to the ISW. Russian forces made unsuccessful attacks against Ivanivske and Bila Hora. The following day Prigozhin said that Ukrainian forces had retaken part of the village of Berkhivka, north of Bakhmut during a counterattack. He called its capture a "disgrace". Ukrainian forces claimed to have advanced further around the flanks of Bakhmut, 200 to 1,600 meters towards Orikhovo-Vasylivka and Paraskoviivka in the north, and 100 to 700 meters near Ivanivske and around Klischiivka in the southwest. A Ukrainian military official also said that the Ukrainians had advanced from 300 meters to one kilometer around the northern and southern flanks of Bakhmut. The ISW said that the Ukrainians advanced 300 meters to one kilometer in the direction of Zaliznianske and reiterated claims that portions or the whole of Berkhivka had liberated.
On 6 June, Ukrainian forces pushed Russian units past the eastern outskirts of Klishchiivka and there was ongoing fighting in Ozaryanivka, Ivanivske, Mayorsk, and Berkhivka. As of 7 June, Ukrainian forces had advanced between 200 and 1000 metres in the flanks of Bakhmut and that Russian forces launched unsuccessful attacks against Klishchiivka, Orikhovo-Vasylivka, Ivanivske and Pivnichn. In their report for 8 June, the ISW noted that Ukrainian forces had advanced 1.8 km wide and 1.2 km deep along the western bank of the Siverskyi Donetsk Canal and forced the 57th Motorized Infantry Brigade (part of the 5th Combined Arms Army) and the "Storm-Z" penal battalion to withdraw from their positions. They also noted unsuccessful Russian attacks on Orikhovo-Vasylivka, Ivanivske, and Pivnichne.
Resumed fighting in the city (14 June 2023–present)
By 14 June fighting had resumed within city limits, this time with Ukraine on the offensive and Russia on the defensive. Russian media reported that Ukrainian forces had begun to attack the Southwest, Northwest and Western axes of the city, as well as making continued gains in the city's flanks, especially along the Berkhivka Reservoir. On 24 June, Hanna Maliar announced that Ukrainian offices had made progress in "all directions" around Bakhmut as part of a flare-up in the 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive during the Wagner Group rebellion.
On 4 July, Ukrainian forces made significant advances towards the village of Klishchiivka, with Ukrainian advances threatening to shut off southern road access for supplies to the occupied city, and has already begun moving artillery into the village to bombard Bakhmut from the south and to support other flanking maneuvers. On 25 July, Ukrainian forces took the strategically important heights overlooking Klishchiivka which allows uninterrupted artillery strikes into Bakhmut itself, as well as liberating the western half of the settlement. Ukrainian sources claim this has effectively "trapped" Russian forces in the city, as any attempt to leave, or be reinforced, will be subjected to artillery strikes from Klishchiivka.
On 8 September, Russian source claimed Ukrainian advances in Klishchiivka had "intensified" and that the situation in the settlement was "unknown."The Ukrainian 3rd Assault Brigade was tasked with the liberation of the village, with their deputy commander, Maksym Zhorinm, highlighting that Ukrainian cluster bombs have prevented any meaningful reinforcements from reaching the village. On 9 September, the 3rd Assault Brigade also launched a concerted effort to liberate the neighboring village of Andriivka. Maliar preemptively announced the liberation of Andriivka on 14 September, which was rebuffed by the 3rd Assault Brigade which announced that the village was actually liberated on 15 September. Later in the day the Kastuś Kalinoŭski Regiment and Chechen volunteers in Klishchiivka reported that all Russian units had been removed from the village's limits, publishing a video showing members of the unit walking the length of the village freely and unopposed. Additionally, elements of the 3rd Assault Brigade reported having killed four senior officers of the Russian 72nd Separate Motor Rifle Brigade which had been tasked with the defense of both Klishchiivka and Andriivka since the start of the renewed fighting.
On 17 September, the Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko and general Oleksandr Syrskyi announced that Klishchiivka was fully cleared of Russian forces with President Zelenskiy congratulating the 80th Air Assault Brigade, 5th Assault Brigade, 95th Air Assault Brigade, and the Liut Brigade of the Offensive Guard for their role in the villages liberation in the morning of 18 September.
Casualties and military strength
Military strength
There are few reports of the military units and strengths employed by either Russia or Ukraine during the battle. However, there are reports that Wagner has been employed by Russia during the fighting in and around Bakhmut and particularly during fighting in May, leading up to the reported capture of the city's centre. Prigozhin has reported that Wagner has employed 35,000 regular mercenaries. This had been supplemented by 50,000 mercenaries recruited from Russian prisons. On 10 January 2023, the number of Ukrainian defenders was reported as 30,000 troops. Meanwhile, on 17 April, Prigozhin reported that 80,000 Ukrainian troops were defending Bakhmut.
On 2 June, Prigozhin reported that Wagner forces had been almost totally withdrawn from the battle. At the end of June, the Ukrainian military assessed the opposing force strength to be 50,300 and reported that no Wagner personnel remained.
Military casualties
The battle of Bakhmut has been described as one of the bloodiest battles of the 21st century, with the battlefield being described as a "meat grinder" and a "vortex" for both the Ukrainian and Russian militaries. On 11 January 2023, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak described the fighting ongoing at Bakhmut and Soledar as the bloodiest since the start of the invasion.
As early as December 2022, it was estimated that hundreds of military personnel from both sides were killed and wounded each day. Intense shelling and frontal attacks by the Russians with minimal gains have been compared to the conditions of the First World War. Russian and Ukraine have been engaged in a battle of attrition. However, Russian losses have been disproportionate by comparison. On 6 March, an assessment by NATO was that five times as many Russians were being killed, while the Ukrainian government claimed the Russians had "potentially" lost seven times as many soldiers as Ukraine. By early June, the Ukrainian military increased this claim to 7.5 times. General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, appearing before the House Committee on Armed Services on 29 March, described the severe casualties being inflicted upon the Russian forces there as a "slaughter-fest".
Between 6 and 31 January, the Ukrainians claimed that 17,000 Russian soldiers lost their lives in the battle, which is nearly double the monthly they had reported the previous year.
On 24 February, American General Mark Milley claimed that the Russians had lost between 1,100 and 1,200 soldiers killed “down around” Bakhmut the previous day alone, a death toll he compared with the battles of Iwo Jima and Shiloh. If accurate, this would make it one of the deadliest days of the war so far.
Meanwhile, two days later on 26 February, former Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov stated that the Russians were losing 500 men killed and another 900 wounded in action every day fighting for Bakhmut.
On 13 March, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed that another 1,100 Russians had been killed and 1,500 wounded over the past week. Meanwhile, the Russians claimed that 220 Ukrainian soldiers were killed in the city on 13 March alone.
Meanwhile, on 17 March, NATO estimated that the Russians were suffering 1,500 casualties per day, mainly from the fighting around Bakhmut. They also stated that Ukraine’s losses were “an order of magnitude less” in fighting where “several thousand” shells a day have been fired by both sides.
On 13 April, the Ukrainians claimed to have inflicted more than 4,500 casualties on the Russians in the previous two weeks alone.
On 1 May, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby stated that the Russians had suffered 100,000 casualties, including over 20,000 dead, fighting primarily for Bakhmut just over the previous five months alone. He also said that half of these losses were from the Wagner Group. Speaking at a G7 summit on 21 May, US President Joe Biden said that "Russians have suffered over 100,000 casualties in Bakhmut." On 2 June, United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, reported that Russia had suffered over 100,000 casualties in Ukraine in the preceding six months (ie since the start of December). At the same time, the UK Ministry of Defense reported 60,000 Russian personnel killed or wounded near Bakhmut since May 2022, while the Ukrainian military would claim 100,000 personnel killed or wounded in the ten months since August 2022.
On 24 May, Yevgeny Prigozhin stated that over 20,000 Wagner fighters had been killed in the Bakhmut battle, with half that number being former prisoners. However, former Russian officer and milblogger Igor Girkin, opined that Wagner has likely suffered more than 40,000 killed in action. In part, this is based on a claimed discrepancy between the number of prisoners recruited and, the number either reported killed or repatriated at the end of their service. Ukraine claims that Wagner has suffered over 81,000 casualties during the battle with 21,000 killed.
On 2 July, the Ukrainians , while maintaining the figure of 21,000 “Wagnerites” killed, increased the number of wounded to 80,000 in “the East”.
High losses were raised by Yevgeniy Prigozhin as one of the key points in his criticism of Russian Ministry of Defense which eventually culminated in him launching an armed rebellion in June 2023.
On 13 May, military analyst Sean Bell stated that well over 100,000 Russians and 20,000 Ukrainians had been killed or injured in the battle to date.
Civilian casualties
In early December, only between 7,000 and 15,000 of Bakhmut's prewar population of 80,000 remained in the city. On 31 May, the city's mayor, Oleksiy Reva, reported 204 residents had been killed and 505 injured since the invasion began, with 500 residents remaining in the city. However, Bakhmut had been subject to Russian bombardment since at least May 2022.
War crimes
In March 2023, a 12-second video was posted of a captured Ukrainian soldier with a cigarette quietly saying "Slava Ukraini", who was then shot dead by an unseen perpetrator. Some Ukrainian media sources and bloggers suggested that the POW was Oleksandr Igorevich Matsievskyi, a soldier from Nizhyn who had been deployed to Bakhmut and gone missing in January.
On 8 April a video was posted on a pro-Russian social media channel, showing a pair of decapitated corpses on the ground beside a destroyed armoured vehicle. The video's (Russian-speaking) recorder, stating how the vehicle had been destroyed by a mine, laughed that "They killed them. Someone came up to them. They came up to them and cut their heads off." According to the channel the incident occurred in Bakhmut and was done by mercenaries from the Wagner Group. Another video posted on Twitter shows a soldier with a yellow armband (a symbol of the Ukrainian military) screaming before he is beheaded by a Russian-speaking soldier with a knife. Foliage in the background suggested the video was taken during the summer. The Institute for the Study of War also reported that an image of the head of a Ukrainian soldier mounted on a spike was circulating around Russian social media.
On 5 July, the Ukrainians claimed that the Russians had attacked them with an arsenic based chemical weapon called lewisite in an artillery bombardment, which had previously been used during World War I. The strike reportedly left some Ukrainian soldiers with symptoms of chemical weapons exposure. Production of more than 100 grams of lewisite per year is banned internationally under the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1997, and its use as a chemical weapon is banned as a Schedule 1 substance.
Analysis
Battlefield conditions
With extremely high casualties, costly ground assaults with very little ground gained, and shell-pocked landscapes, volunteers, media, and government officials alike compared fighting in Bakhmut to battlefield conditions on the western front of World War I. Furthermore, the battle has been marked by some of the fiercest urban combat not seen in Europe since World War II. Retired US Marine Corps Colonel Andrew Milburn, the leader of a foreign volunteer group in Ukraine called the Mozart Group and an eyewitness to the battle, compared conditions in the Bakhmut countryside to Passchendaele and the city itself to Dresden in World War II. Comparisons have also been made between Bakhmut and the battles of Verdun, the Somme and Stalingrad by both Western and Ukrainian officials.
Historian Geoffrey Roberts stressed the comparisons between Bakhmut and Stalingrad as being inaccurate, with Bakhmut unlikely to have an effect as significant as Stalingrad did on the future of the war. He argued that in addition to Bakhmut being comparatively miniscule in size, the battle itself is not as strategically important as Stalingrad was. Professor Alexander Hill also commented upon the similarities drawn up between Bakhmut and past battles, stating that on a basic level Bakhmut is similar in that is it a battle of attrition causing thousands of casualties, but ultimately stating that "The fighting in and around Bakhmut won't be another Stalingrad or Verdun, because what is taking place isn't history repeating itself and nor can it be, even if we can find similarities between past and present."
On 14 April, the UK MoD said that: "Russia has re-energised its assault on the Donetsk Oblast town of Bakhmut as forces of the Russian MoD and Wagner Group have improved co-operation...Ukrainian forces face significant resupply issues but have made orderly withdrawals from the positions they have been forced to concede."
On 21 May, Ukrainian General Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi said that Ukrainian forces were getting close to a "tactical encirclement" of Russian forces while controlling only an "insignificant" part of the city. Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar wrote on Telegram: "Our forces have taken the city in a semi-encirclement, which gives us the opportunity to destroy the enemy ... the enemy has to defend himself in the part of the city he controls".
Also on 21 May, President Zelenskyy compared the battle and the destruction of the city to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945, saying that the events "absolutely remind me of Bakhmut and other cities like it...absolutely, nothing alive there, all buildings are destroyed, there is even no understanding where a street is and where a building is. Absolute total destruction. Nothing left, no people left."
On 5 August, deputy defense minister Hanna Maliar described the battle as "extremely fierce", with Ukrainian forces advancing slowly but confidently against the large number of Russian troops thrown at them.
Personnel and tactics
Russian assault forces have primarily been composed of Wagner Group mercenary contractors and ex-convicts, reinforcements from other front lines in Ukraine, and recently mobilized recruits the Ukrainians refer to as . Reportedly, Wagner's forces have consisted of a majority of recruited, under-trained ex-convicts and a minority of well-trained contractors serving as group commanders that operate efficiently and encrypt radio communications. Some observers likened Russian tactics to Soviet-style human wave attacks, repeatedly assaulting Ukrainian positions with waves of infantry. Some Ukrainian soldiers have alleged that Wagner used its recruited ex-convicts as first wave "human bait" to reveal Ukrainian positions, with those refusing to advance being threatened with "execution" by firing squads or barrier troops and those who were wounded in the assaults were usually not rescued.
Russia has targeted Bakhmut with Iranian made drones after 450 of them were sent to Russia in mid-October 2022. In late January 2023, Russia began supplanting Wagner units with better-trained National Guard of Russia (Rosgvardia) and paratroopers, enabling them to make further advances in the Bakhmut sector.
The Ukrainian defenders consist of a "hodgepodge of units", consisting initially of the 93rd Mechanized Brigade and the 58th Motorized Brigade, who were later reinforced by many other units—including special forces and territorial defense units—in order to fill in gaps caused by heavy casualties. Units are also constantly rotated to replenish casualties and prevent combat fatigue. On 10 January 2023, Polish think tank Rochan Consulting estimated Ukraine may have ten brigades fighting in Bakhmut, or around 30,000 personnel. Ukrainian commanders have utilized significant resources in Bakhmut, with their strategy being to keep Russia preoccupied with Bakhmut in order to prevent further offensives. Conversely, American military analyst Michael Kofman argued that Ukraine's use of well-trained National Guard and infantry units against poorly trained Wagner forces was tying down Ukraine's well-trained units and preventing Ukraine from conducting offensives not only in the present but for the future.
In his 1 May press briefing, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Russia has suffered more than 100,000 casualties since December fighting in Bakhmut, a figure which includes about 20,000 soldiers killed in combat and 80,000 wounded. He added that of that of all the areas attacked in the broader Russian offensive, Bakhmut was the only area where Russian forces made any advances, although these were only "incremental gains". "Most of these efforts have stalled and failed... Russia has been unable to seize any real strategically significant territory... Folks he [Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin] went knocking around on the doors in prison cells throughout Russia to throw human flesh at this fight," Kirby said. The White House also compared the Russian casualty toll to a pair of key battles in World War II. It is more than the 19,000 US troops killed and 80,000 wounded in the Battle of the Bulge, and it's about three times the 7,100 soldiers the US lost in the Battle of Guadalcanal.
According to Western analysts, the recent spike in casualties suffered by Russian forces during the battle has led to fears that the upcoming Ukrainian counteroffensive, planned for later in the spring, may become "carnage". The US has said that such fierce fighting shows that the bloody carnage may become even worse after the start of Kyiv's counteroffensive to retake the occupied territories.
On 17 May, the Ukrainian military published an interview with a captured Wagner mercenary, who was also a former Russian convict. In the video, the man claimed that he had been wounded and then abandoned to die by his comrades in a trench for four days before he was taken prisoner, indicating that Russian forces were leaving behind their wounded soldiers. He also said that Russian forces were suffering great losses, saying there is a "trench where a corpse is lying on a corpse".
In their 2 June report, the ISW noted claims by Colonel Serhiy Cherevaty that Russian units do not participate in the attritional style of warfare that Wagner forces had, and that instead, Russian forces are engaging in a defensive strategy. The ISW also reiterated reports by the British MoD that "to 48 centimeters of ground territory for each of the 60,000 personnel killed or wounded near Bakhmut since May 2022." Ian Stubbs, a British Senior Military Advisor, also stated that Russia has suffered nearly half of those casualties, almost 30,000 killed or wounded, in the last three months since March. "These staggering losses have achieved at total advance of just 29 kilometres. That is for every 48 centimetres of ground Russia gained, one of its soldiers was killed or wounded," he stressed.
Strategic value
The overall strategic value of Bakhmut has been considered dubious by many analysts, observing that the resources and lives Russia has spent assaulting the city far outweigh its importance. The UK defence ministry and US National Security Council have both insisted capturing Bakhmut would only be a "symbolic" victory for Russia rather than a strategic one. Some observers noted that Bakhmut is a key regional logistics and transport hub where two roads, the T0504 to Kostiantynivka and T0513 to Siversk, pass through. Ukrainian president Zelenskyy has attributed both tactical and symbolic value to Bakhmut, calling it a "fortress of our morale" and refused to order a tactical retreat from the city in March 2023, saying its capture would give Russia an "open road" to important cities in eastern Ukraine. Other sources have described how the significance of the city "cannot be overstressed", detailing how the city lay at a fork pointing toward the larger Donbas cities of Kostiantynivka, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.
Jon Roozenbeek, British Academy postdoctoral fellow at the University of Cambridge, observed that securing Bakhmut would put Kramatorsk and Sloviansk within sufficient Russian artillery range. Others have concurred with this analysis. Konrad Muzyka, and expert on Russian security Mark Galeotti, argued that Russia's costly assault is a matter of both preserving prestige and sunk cost fallacy—that Russian forces had already expended so much manpower in the war effort on other fronts that they "may as well do everything they can" to seize the city.
Retired Ukrainian colonel Serhiy Hrabskyi suggested the Wagner Group was seeking glory in capturing Bakhmut, as leader Yevgeny Prigozhin is poised to reap significant monetary and political rewards if Wagner captures the city on behalf of the Russian government. Prighozhin himself had previously suggested Wagner was deliberately turning Bakhmut into a "meat grinder" to inflict heavy attritional casualties on Ukrainian forces. One Western official gave an inverse view, saying the battle is "giving Ukraine a unique opportunity to kill a lot of Russians", due to purportedly poor Russian tactics.
On 21 May, following the capture of much of the city, some Russian state media outlets compared the fall of the city to the Soviet victory in the Battle of Berlin; a Russian fighter told a Channel One correspondent that he felt "probably the same emotions as our grandfathers had in Berlin". Meanwhile, other Russian ultranationalist milbloggers celebrated the alleged capture of Bakhmut but emphasized that "Bakhmut is not Berlin" and that the capture of the city would be simply another step in ongoing difficult operations to achieve Russian objectives in Ukraine.
A Channel One broadcast on 1 July 2023 compared the battles for Mariupol and Bakhmut. It claimed that the latter had not been "the most important city from the point of view of the front", and that the Wagner mercenaries destroyed and captured the city for over 7.5 months. The broadcast contrasted this to Mariupol (portrayed as "one of the most important centres of Ukrainian metallurgy"), which had been captured by the Russian Army and the National Guard of Russia after 71 days. This report was televised one week after the Wagner Group rebellion.
See also
List of military engagements during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Notes
References
Battles in 2022
Battles in 2023
Battles of the Russian invasion of Ukraine
May 2022 events in Ukraine
June 2022 events in Ukraine
July 2022 events in Ukraine
August 2022 events in Ukraine
September 2022 events in Ukraine
October 2022 events in Ukraine
November 2022 events in Ukraine
December 2022 events in Ukraine
January 2023 events in Ukraine
February 2023 events in Ukraine
March 2023 events in Ukraine
April 2023 events in Ukraine
May 2023 events in Ukraine
June 2023 events in Ukraine
July 2023 events in Ukraine
21st century in Donetsk Oblast
Eastern Ukraine offensive
Battles involving the Donetsk People's Republic
Wagner Group
Urban warfare
Bakhmut