[News] Ukraine war: Defying Russian onslaught in city 'at the end of the world'

[BirSaNN]

"This is the toughest operation I've ever seen. The enemy has thrown its strongest assault at Bakhmut. We haven't seen troops like this before," the Ukrainian commander tells us.

Commander Skala, as he wants to be called, is controlling the Ukrainian operation to defend the city of Bakhmut in the eastern Donbas region from an underground chamber off a nondescript street. It is one of the main command centres the Ukrainian military has set up in the city, and few journalists have been here.

A tall, hefty man with sparkling eyes, he watches a live feed from a drone hovering outside the eastern edge of the city on a big screen in the centre of the room.

One of the battalion's units is trying to spot the location of Russian positions, to aid another unit which has just gone out to defend eastern approaches to Bakhmut under attack.

In addition to Russian armed forces, mercenaries from the private paramilitary Wagner group have been sent in their thousands to front lines around Bakhmut.

"Wagner soldiers openly advance under fire towards us even if they're littering the land with their bodies, even if out of 60 people in their platoon only 20 are left. It's very difficult to hold against such an invasion. We weren't prepared for that, and we're learning now," Commander Skala says.

"Some weeks ago, we lost positions on the eastern approaches to the city because the enemy was constantly storming us with assaults. We moved to secondary front lines to save our soldiers," he adds.

"We are trying to work smartly and get those positions back. Sometimes you have to withdraw to attack the enemy properly."

Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin has said Ukrainians have turned every house in Bakhmut into a fortress, and that there were now "500 lines of defence".

Russia has been using all its might to try to take Bakhmut - a battle considered critical for the country after it lost ground in Ukraine in recent months, being pushed out of Kherson in the south and the Kharkiv region in the north-east. Capturing Bakhmut is also important to further Russia's aim to control the whole of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.

Throughout our conversation with Commander Skala, muffled explosions can be heard from above ground. The second you step outside, the sound is loud enough to make your heart pound - the terrifying whistle of shells flying in followed by the deafening boom of the impact.

And the sound never stops as the bombs keep falling.

One resident described it as "the end of the world" and there are moments when it feels like that.

Bombs have ripped through the middle of apartment blocks, blown away the facades of buildings and created craters by the side of streets. It was hard to find a window in Bakhmut that was intact. The ground is littered with broken glass and debris.

This was once a quiet, ordinary town in the east, known for its sparkling wine. Now, it's become a byword for war and Ukraine's resistance.

It lies at a vital road intersection, but over the months, the battle here has gained a symbolic importance. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently called it the "fortress of our morale".

link: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64153581