January 10, 2023 10:31
Bakhmut’s name will remain in the history of the war in Ukraine to indicate one of the closest battles of the conflict. For weeks, in fact, the city located in the Donetsk region, in eastern Ukraine, has been the scene of dramatic clashes, with a very high number of victims.
Today, what is at stake in Bakhmut is more symbolic, an aspect that is far from negligible in a conflict like the current one. The story is reminiscent of Verdun and the First World War, with men dying to conquer a house or a neighborhood which is then immediately lost the next day. The weapons, however, are those of the twenty-first century, with drones, geolocation and missiles.
Until now, Ukraine had avoided running the risk of losing too many men defending unnecessary positions. But the Ukrainian army has changed its strategy in Bakhmut, which has become the symbol of his ability to resist and therefore one day to prevail over Russia. A defeat to Bakhmut would be bad, at a time when Ukraine is receiving promises of new Western arms deliveries.
A personal army
In Bakhmut the Ukrainian army has to face the men of Wagner, the “private” army of Yevgeny Prigozhin. And that changes things. Prigozhin, formerly nicknamed “Putin’s cook” due to their common past in St. Petersburg, is the founder of the Wagner company, famous for its mercenaries active in Africa and above all in Mali, where they replaced the French soldiers. Today Wagner fights in Ukraine in her own right, with thousands of men recruited directly in prisons: after six months at the front, those who survive get their freedom.
The Ukrainians do not provide data on their losses, but they are certainly important too
Prigožin takes it personally and for this reason he has shown himself in recent days in several videos that portray him not far from Bakhmut, in the act of encouraging his men. It is a roundabout way of criticizing the Russian General Staff for its ineffectiveness. To show his full strength, Prigozhin needs to win Bakhmut. Indeed, a victory would have negative repercussions on the regular army.
In this case it is not the battlefield that counts, but the games of power and influence in Moscow.
At the front, in recent days, Wagner’s forces have tried to conquer Soledar, a town located near Bakhmut. The fighting was intense. According to Kiev the Russians had to give up after heavy losses.
The Ukrainians do not provide data on their losses, but they are certainly important too. Kiev sent reinforcements to Bakhmut to help the army repel the Russian assaults.
The battle of Bakhmut, a city from which 90 percent of the population has now fled, has become even more symbolic considering that the front elsewhere has more or less stabilized, except for Russian bombing of Ukrainian cities.
All of this only confirms the feeling that this war is nowhere near its end. “Dying for Bakhmut” today is the symbol of the determination of both sides not to give an inch on their goals.
(Translation by Andrea Sparacino)