Under occupation for over 1.5 years: a glimpse of the Russian-occupied city of Bakhmut (photos).
The city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, which had a population of 72,310 before the war, has been completely destroyed by the Russians. It is currently under occupation.
The invaders refer to the settlement as Artemovsk, but they are not in a hurry to rebuild it. Online footage has emerged showing what Bakhmut looks like now from a bird's-eye view.
The photos reveal homes without windows and roofs, with some structures completely demolished. The images also show piles of concrete that were once the walls of houses before the Russian shelling.
The lens also captured a damaged amusement park and churches.
7 8 As a reminder, in 2022-2023, Bakhmut became the center of a large-scale confrontation between Ukrainian and Russian forces. The battle for this settlement remains the longest in the Russian-Ukrainian war.
By early 2023, according to the head of the Donetsk regional military administration, Pavlo Kyrylenko, the city was destroyed by more than 60%, and by May, it was nearly completely devastated.
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0 "During the Russian offensive aimed at capturing Bakhmut, intense fighting and indiscriminate shelling of buildings led to significant destruction throughout the city. Schools, train stations, and residential buildings, as well as other civilian infrastructure, were damaged, and in some cases destroyed," stated British intelligence.
1 2 At the end of May 2023, Bakhmut was taken by Russian troops, and fighting in the surrounding areas continued.
3 4 Earlier, we reported that in the Russian-occupied Bakhmut, a T-34 tank that served as a monument to tank soldiers had gone missing. The head of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, posed in front of it.