StarAvisStarAvisStarAvis
  • Home
  • News
  • Business
  • Literature
  • Science

Archives

  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • September 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021

Categories

  • Articles
  • Artificial intelligence
  • Arts & Design
  • Biography
  • Books
  • Business
  • Celebrities
  • Economy
  • Editorial
  • Entertainment
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Environment
  • Europe News
  • Fact check
  • Food
  • Geography
  • Health
  • Health Care
  • History
  • Internet
  • Lifestyle
  • Literature
  • Marketing
  • Medication
  • Movies
  • News
  • Opinion
  • Personal Finance
  • Podcast
  • Politics
  • Science
  • SEO
  • Sports
  • Technology
  • Top 10
  • Travel
  • TV
  • U.K News
  • U.S. News
  • World News
Reading: Bakhmut burning: fires everywhere
Share
Notification Show More
Aa
StarAvisStarAvis
Aa
  • World
  • Travel
  • Opinion
  • Science
  • Technology
  • Fashion
  • Home
    • Home 1
    • Home 2
    • Home 3
    • Home 4
    • Home 5
  • Categories
    • Technology
    • Opinion
    • Travel
    • Fashion
    • World
    • Science
    • Health
  • Bookmarks
  • More Foxiz
    • Sitemap
Have an existing account? Sign In
Follow US
© 2022 Foxiz News Network. Ruby Design Company. All Rights Reserved.
StarAvis > Latest > News > World News > Bakhmut burning: fires everywhere
NewsWorld News

Bakhmut burning: fires everywhere

StarAvis Desk
Last updated: 2023/03/02 at 11:11 PM
StarAvis Desk Published March 2, 2023
Share
7 Min Read
The Battle of Bakhmut has come to epitomize Ukraine’s resolve. Photograph: Reuters
SHARE

Situation for Bakhmut’s defenders now almost untenable as seven-month assault may be nearing end

In the besieged city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, the volunteers collecting the civilian dead risk becoming casualties themselves. “Where? Where?” demands Daniel Wilk, a Canadian driver, in shaky video footage shot recently inside the city and seen by the Guardian.

Wilk proceeds quickly, the anxiety of the situation visible in his movements as he is directed to a fence, cutting an uncertain path across the snow as another voice cries “no, no” repeatedly.

The bodies, when Wilk gets to them, have been cut in half by the force of the explosion that took their lives, and still lie where they fell three days before. Quickly they are bundled up in a sheet to be removed.

People who have managed to reach Bakhmut in the past week use the same word to describe what they have experienced: hell.

As flames and smoke ring into the sky from blazing buildings, the city, almost totally encircled by Russian forces, has been raked by constant gunfire and explosions in recent days. With roads leading to the city under constant fire from two sides, and with snipers in the streets, accessing the city has become ever more perilous for rescue teams, as speculation has mounted that Ukrainian forces will have to withdraw.

“We haven’t been able to reach the downtown area in recent days,” said Olha Danilova, who like Wilk works for a Ukrainian NGO, Dobryi Rukh, which has been working in Bakhmut for all of the seven months of the Russian assault.

“The closest we could get was 500 metres from the city centre. It’s very loud. Everything is being shelled with mortars. It’s inaccessible. We were trying evacuate civilian from down by the river last time. We couldn’t even get close.

“The main road we used to use is being shelled constantly. The 27th [of February] was the worst. That was the hell day. It was the hardest day we’ve had since we’ve been working here. It was a wall of fire. Two walls of fire. It was coming from all sides, and aviation was attacking.”

“It was super difficult,” Wilk added. “If you try go down the main road, someone is going to try and kill you. There are snipers in the street shooting civilians. They don’t give a fuck. It’s complete carnage.

“I’ve been all over the city. There are still some bits that almost look normal for a Donbas town. The rest is completely devastated. The last time I drove in, I counted six plumes of smoke. There are fires everywhere.”

In a week in which the situation for Bakhmut’s defenders has become almost untenable, Danilova and Wilk’s accounts, and those of other civilian volunteers who spoke to the Guardian, paint a vivid picture of a city that many fear could soon fall to the Russians.

A bleak tone has crept into the social media updates of even some of the city’s most unflappable defenders, including “Magyar”, a drone unit commander celebrated for his efforts. “All you need to know is as of 1 March, Bakhmut still stands,” he said, his expression flat and exhausted. “The price of holding it is supreme. And it is getting harder and harder to hold it,” he added, mentioning Russian efforts to cut the last supply lines to the city.

In recent days, even amid reports of a surge of Ukrainian reinforcements to the area, forces have struggled to repel Russian advances to the north and south of the city. With supply roads now under heavy fire by Russian artillery, including phosphorus munitions and anti-tank guided missiles, the long, slow encirclement that has cost the lives of thousands of Russian soldiers is choking the last access.

“Our military is obviously going to weigh all of the options. So far, they’ve held the city, but if need be, they will strategically pull back,” Alexander Rodnyansky, an economic adviser to the president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said earlier this week. “We’re not going to sacrifice all of our people just for nothing.”

A battle that has come to embody Ukraine’s determination, as the city’s defenders hold out against relentless shelling and Russian troops take heavy casualties, may be winding to an end. Yet even then, while analysts believe the fall of Bakhmut would be a blow for Ukraine – and a propaganda victory for the Kremlin – its capture would offer little real strategic advantage to Russia.

Rodnyansky noted that Russia was using the Wagner group’s best troops to try to encircle the city. The private military company known for brutal tactics is led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a millionaire with longtime links to Vladimir Putin.

Prigozhin said on Wednesday that he had seen no signs of a Ukrainian withdrawal and Kyiv had in fact been reinforcing its positions. “The Ukrainian army is deploying additional troops and is doing what it can to retain control of the city,” he said. “Tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers are offering fierce resistance, and the fighting is getting increasingly bloody by day.”

Ukraine’s deputy defence minister, Hanna Maliar, said earlier this week that reinforcements had been dispatched to Bakhmut.

Oleh Zhdanov, a Ukrainian military analyst, said the reinforcements may have been sent to gain time for strengthening Ukrainian firing lines on a hill in Chasiv Yar, about 9 miles (15km) west of Bakhmut. He said any possible withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from Bakhmut “will not affect the course of the war in any way” because of the firing positions in Chasiv Yar.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Follow us on Google News

You Might Also Like

NATO Chief Warns of Prolonged Conflict in Ukraine

Iranian Protests Mark the First Anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s Death

The Journey to Derna: A Tale of Devastation and Despair

Key Takeaways from the Vladimir Putin-Kim Jong-un Summit

Russia’s termination of agreement triggers warning on Black Sea grain shipments

Share This Article
Twitter Email Copy Link Print
Share
Previous Article Why clean energy is important
Next Article Russia accuses west at G20 of blackmail
Leave a comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You Might Also Like

NATO Chief Warns of Prolonged Conflict in Ukraine
News

NATO Chief Warns of Prolonged Conflict in Ukraine

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg issued a cautionary message, emphasizing that the war in Ukraine may endure for an extended…

4 Min Read
Iranian Protests Mark the First Anniversary of Mahsa Amini's Death
World News

Iranian Protests Mark the First Anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s Death

Iran witnessed widespread protests on Saturday as people commemorated the first anniversary of the tragic death of Mahsa Amini. The…

3 Min Read
The Journey to Derna: A Tale of Devastation and Despair
News

The Journey to Derna: A Tale of Devastation and Despair

Once a picturesque drive from Benghazi, the road to the Libyan city of Derna has become a haunting ordeal. Fields…

5 Min Read
Key Takeaways from the Vladimir Putin-Kim Jong-un Summit
Politics

Key Takeaways from the Vladimir Putin-Kim Jong-un Summit

Meeting in Russia's Far East Raises Concerns In a recent summit between Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un, the United States…

4 Min Read
StarAvis StarAvis White

News

  • World
  • Advertise

Technology

  • Innovate
  • Gadget
  • PC hardware
  • Review
  • Software

Health

  • Medicine
  • Children
  • Coronavirus
  • Nutrition
  • Disease

Culture

  • Stars
  • Screen
  • Culture
  • Media
  • Videos

More

  • Fashion
  • Travel
  • Opinion
  • Science
  • Health

Subscribe

  • Google News
  • Digital Subscription
  • Games
  • Cooking
Copyright 2011-2023 © StarAvis Network. All Rights Reserved.
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?