The battle for Bakhmut has been described as the 'meat grinder' with Ukrainian soldiers seeing Russians stepping over their dead comrades as they push forward, often to their own deaths.
For an unremarkable salt-mining city in eastern Ukraine, Bakhmut has taken on more of a significance than its original 71,000 inhabitants could ever have imagined.
In this year-long war the city has become a symbol for both warring parties: for the Russians a signal to its flagging army that after months of setbacks it can actually mount an offensive, and for the Ukrainians a golden example of resistance and spirit in the face of adversity. The cost for both sides so far has been horrendous, especially when one considers that Bakhmut, or when I first visited it in 2014, Artemivsk as it was known, isn't really of any logistical or strategic significance to either take or to hold.The last time I was in Bakhmut, in June 2022, there were still a significant number of civilians living there. But over the past few months many have left, and only a few remain; any others who now want to leave have to do so by foot.
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