Fighting Amid The Rubble: Ukraine Battles On For 'Fortress Bakhmut'

A wounded Ukrainian soldier is transported from the front line near Bakhmut on March 23.

Despite escalating casualties on both sides, Ukraine’s ground forces commander, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskiy said that the Russian assault on Bakhmut was causing Russian forces to "lose considerable strength."

Medics remove an injured soldier from an APC.

"Very soon, we will take advantage of this opportunity, as we once did near Kyiv, Kharkiv, Balaklia and Kupyansk," Syrskiy said, referring to Ukraine’s counteroffensive last year that pushed Russian forces away from the country’s capital and large swaths of the northeast.

 

Ukrainian soldiers load a shell into a M119 105-mm howitzer.
 

A Ukrainian M119 105-mm howitzer fires at Russian positions.

A Ukrainian soldier pets a cat near the front.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy made an unscheduled visit near Bakhmut on March 22 to rally the troops and give out awards to soldiers who are defending the country's sovereignty.

Ukrainian soldiers smoke a cigarette at the entrance to their basement shelter.

Ukrainian soldiers head toward Bakhmut in a BMP infantry fighting vehicle.

Ukrainian soldiers rest in their basement shelter.

Russia, which refers to Bakhmut by its Soviet-era name of Artyomovsk, says that capturing the destroyed city will allow it to launch more offensives deeper into Ukrainian territory.

A Ukrainian soldier looks on from her position near the front line.

Ukrainian servicemen fire a 122-mm howitzer D-30 at Russian positions on March 21.

Despite Russia's Wagner mercenary group claiming to have seized up to 70 percent of the ruined city, Ukraine refuses to relinquish control.