Why is Bakhmut so important to Russia and Ukraine?

Both sides are suffering heavy losses in the attritional battle for the eastern Ukrainian city

A heavily shelled street in Bakhmut, eastern Donetsk
A heavily shelled street in Bakhmut, eastern Donetsk
(Image credit: Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images)

The bloody battle for Bakhmut could be over in a matter of days after reports that Russian troops have almost surrounded Ukrainian forces in the city in the eastern region of Donetsk.

Ukrainian soldiers are “being pummelled on three sides” by Russian forces in “the longest and one of the bloodiest battles” since the beginning of the invasion, said The Guardian.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us

 Sorcha Bradley is a writer at The Week and a regular on “The Week Unwrapped” podcast. She worked at The Week magazine for a year and a half before taking up her current role with the digital team, where she mostly covers UK current affairs and politics. Before joining The Week, Sorcha worked at slow-news start-up Tortoise Media. She has also written for Sky News, The Sunday Times, the London Evening Standard and Grazia magazine, among other publications. She has a master’s in newspaper journalism from City, University of London, where she specialised in political journalism.