Bakhmut As Seen From Both The Russian And Ukrainian Battle Lines

Ukrainian soldiers driving an armored personnel carrier in Bakhmut on April 12.

A report published on the same day this photo was taken describes Ukrainian forces defending a “shrinking half-circle of ruins in a western neighborhood of Bakhmut." However a map from the same New York Times report shows a significant portion of the center of the city still under Ukrainian control.


 

A pro-Russian soldier in Bakhmut’s central square. The photo was made in front of the city’s administration building (out of frame on left) during an April 10 visit by Denis Pushilin, the Russian-installed leader of Ukraine's Donetsk region.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, claimed on April 11 that his forces controlled more than 80 percent of the city. Ukrainian officials have denied the assertion.

A Ukrainian soldier takes a cigarette break in Bakhmut on April 12.

Ukrainian military spokesman Serhiy Cherevatyi told CNN on April 11 that Prighozhin’s claim of 80 percent control of the city is untrue. “I've just been in touch with the commander of one of the brigades that are defending the city. I can confidently state that the Ukrainian defense forces control a much larger percentage of the territory of Bakhmut," he said.
 

A car and ammunition boxes in a crater in Bakhmut on April 10.

The eastern city has been under sustained Russian shelling since May 2022, while all-out infantry assaults have been ongoing since December.
 

Ukrainian troops walk through a Bakhmut neighborhood on April 12. 

Ukrainian soldiers have described Russian assaults on Bakhmut as "human wave" attacks, comparable to the enormously costly tactics used by the Soviet Red Army during World War II.  

A mercenary with Russia’s Wagner group in the ruins of a property in Bakhmut on April 10.

Most Russian fighters in Bakhmut are from the Wagner mercenary group, many of whom are are hardened criminals recruited from Russia's prisons. 

A makeshift grave near apartments in Bakhmut on April 12.

Frontline access for journalists on the Ukrainian side of the fight for Bakhmut has been made difficult in recent weeks due to new rules on press access. Photos in this gallery from the Ukrainian side were taken by Iryna Rybakova, a press officer with the Ukrainian military.

A Russian T-90MS tank emerging from broken trees in Bakhmut on April 10.

On the Russian side of the battle for Bakhmut, access is effectively impossible for reporters not directly employed by the Kremlin or championing the Russian invasion. This photo was made by Valentin Sprinchak, a photographer with Russia’s TASS news agency.

A view over Bakhmut taken from behind Russian lines in eastern Bakhmut on March 24. The image shows smoke rising from the center of the city. In the foreground is Bakhmut’s First Baptist Church, and a T-34 tank serving as a World War II memorial (visible at center left).