Bloodied And Muddied: Ukrainian Troops Fighting For Bakhmut Regroup In Chasiv Yar

A Ukrainian mortar fires at Russian positions near Bakhmut on March 8. 

With Russian regular forces and soldiers from the notorious Wagner private military company surrounding Bakhmut on three sides, Chasiv Yar, located on a hill just a few kilometers west of the beleaguered city in the eastern Donetsk region, is likely to become the next bulwark against Moscow's forces.

Ukrainian servicemen sit inside a van in Chasiv Yar.

Of the two roads that connect Bakhmut to the outside world, one runs through Chasiv Yar.

 

The town has functioned as a vital resupply route for Ukrainian troops who have been engaged in heavy fighting in and near Bakhmut. An unconfirmed report by the U.K. Ministry of Defense on March 4 said that a vital bridge connecting the town to Bakhmut had been destroyed. RFE/RL cannot independently verify the claim.



 

A wounded Ukrainian servicemen sits in an armored personnel carrier as he is evacuated from the front line near Bakhmut on March 8.

Chasiv Yar, which had a prewar population of 15,000, has been repeatedly targeted by Russian artillery, resulting in a shattered landscape of burnt-out buildings.

With the sounds of artillery ringing out above them, the roughly 1,500 residents who remain spend their days hiding in basements, such as these people cooking on the stairs of their apartment building on March 6.

For soldiers returning from the front, Chasiv Yar allows them to rest and regroup before returning to the trenches to fight another day.

Kyiv's troops are also reportedly reinforcing positions in the undulating hills west of Bakhmut in apparent preparation for a possible retreat. 

A Ukrainian soldier cleans mud from his gun after returning from the fighting in Bakhmut.

 

Another man who came back from fighting enjoys a cigarette.

"If the Ukrainians decide to reposition in some of the terrain that's west of Bakhmut, I would not view that as an operational or a strategic setback," U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on March 6. 

A Ukrainian tank fires toward Russian positions on the front line near Bakhmut on March 8.