Troops in Bakhmut describe perilous fight as city standing in way of Russian advance is pounded by missiles
even miles from Ukraine’s frontline, resting Ukrainian soldiers were smoking cigarettes on benches in the shade outside a military hospital. The constant thud of artillery could be heard in the distance. The city of Bakhmut felt deserted. There was little sense of life from before the war – no children, cars, and barely any people. Windows were boarded up with only a handful of civilians on the streets. Almost the only activity had been brought here by the war.
Ukraine’s army has plenty of highly motivated fighters, they said, but their equipment and men are being pounded by the masses of Russian shells, rockets and missiles. “When you’re fighting in a city, positions are held in buildings,” added Sasha, who left his home city of Donetsk in 2014 when Russian and Russian-backed forces took over. “They fire at you with artillery – grads, missiles, mortar – and then, if you have nothing to answer with, you [retreat] to another building and they move forward.”Photograph: Anastasia Taylor-Lind/The Guardian
“I went for a cigarette. Suddenly all hell broke loose,” said Ivan. “The Russians were hiding in the trees. There was an artillery barrage. Then a bullet flew past. A sniper was shooting at us.”
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