Ukrainian Forces Seize Russian Trenches -- And Their Dead -- Near Bakhmut

A Ukrainian soldier stands above a dead Russian soldier in a recently captured trench near Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine, on July 4.

Kyiv's counteroffensive against Russian forces has been "particularly fruitful" in the past few days, Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, said on July 5. His comments come after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on July 4 that his troops had made progress after a "difficult" week.

A soldier keeps watch from a trench that was formerly held by Moscow's forces.
 
The commander of Ukraine's ground forces, General Oleksandr Syrskiy, said that Russian units were attempting counterattacks to recover the ground they had recently lost to advancing Ukrainian forces. 

“The Bakhmut front has become an arena of active hostilities again.... The enemy is desperately clinging to positions and strongholds that were formerly occupied by Wagner Group fighters.… Events unfold and change very rapidly, with some positions changing hands twice a day,” Syrskiy said, in comments reported by the Ukrainska Pravda magazine.

Ukrainian soldiers rest in a trench that was previously held by Moscow's forces.
 

A Ukrainian soldier cools himself off.

Hundred of cities and towns form part of a front line that stretches from the northern Donbas to the south of Ukraine in Kherson -- nearly 1,000 kilometers of trenches, minefields, rivers, and other obstacles that separate Ukrainian troops from their Russian counterparts.

A Ukrainian soldier rests in a recently captured trench near Bakhmut.

Daily life for soldiers serving in the trenches includes long periods of boredom punctuated by artillery attacks that can maim and kill at any time.

Ukrainian soldiers walk on the front line near Bakhmut.

 

A Ukrainian soldier walks along a recently captured Russian trench.

Ukraine said on July 4 that its troops had regained more ground on the eastern and southern fronts, although Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said fighting had surged around the eastern city of Bakhmut, captured by Russian forces in May.

A smiling Ukrainian soldier.

Malyar said Kyiv's forces had taken back more than 37 square kilometers of territory in the past week. The number of dead and injured on both sides is unknown.