Putin's empty victory: the capture of Bakhmut in numbers

Bakhmut was the site of the longest and bloodiest battle since the invasion began. Photo: Ukrainian Armed Forces

Meat grinder, damn it, a fortress on the ground, a blackened nightmare, and now European Hiroshima.

For nine and a half months of the siege, Bakhmut was called differently. Few descriptions reflect the scale of loss and destruction. Which side (if any) won this costly battle is unclear.

The small eastern city has undoubtedly been the site of some of the bloodiest fighting since Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine. It is also the longest battle since the Second World War.

Thousands of men were sent to their deaths, drawn into what is called the maelstrom of brutal and merciless fighting.

US intelligence estimates that Russia has lost about 100,000 people in the city area since December last year alone. It is believed that about 20,000 of them were killed. That's more than half the total number of Russians believed to have died in Ukraine since the invasion began.

The Cost of War

Ukraine claims that Russia has lost another 80,000 since the battle began in August. December 1. Another 20,000 are believed to have died.

The number of victims suffered by Ukraine in Bakhmut is less clear. One Russian-appointed official said in April that Moscow had killed between 15,000 and 20,000 Ukrainian troops since the siege began.

Aleksey Danilov, head of Ukraine's National Security Council, said in March that military casualties in the city were » one to seven» in favor of Kiev.

However, even if this is true, Russian losses are easier to absorb due to the relative size of Moscow's infantry reserves.

Russia is believed to have initially sent 150,000 troops to Ukraine. Another 300,000 troops were mobilized in October, but it is not clear how many of them were deployed.

Taking this into account, losses near Bakhmut could amount to up to a quarter of all Russian soldiers sent to Ukraine.

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In addition to the death toll, the loss of heavy armor and depletion of artillery shells.

As a result of numerous unsuccessful attacks, the city and its environs were littered with Russian armored vehicles. The British Ministry of Defense noted at one of the intelligence briefings that up to 30 people were killed in one incident. house. Photo: AF UKRAINE. private militias, mostly the Wagner Group, who are said to have led the siege of Bakhmut.

Nearly half of the 20,000 Russian troops killed in Ukraine since December were Wagner fighters in Bakhmut, the US National Security Council said in Thursday. May 5.

They formed the infamous expendable squads, made up of convicts released from prison, to take part in poorly organized assaults on the front lines.

Many were ordered to march through muddy trenches to meet a barrage of bullets, in a tactic that traded in dozens lives per meter of territory at a time.

Ukrainian military firing a D-30 howitzer at Russian positions near Bakhmut Credit : AFP

Bakhmut was also the scene of violent urban clashes, with house-to-house fighting leaving the city almost completely destroyed.

According to Ukraine's estimates at the beginning of March, at least 4,000 civilians were killed. The pre-war population of the city was 73,000.

Endless shelling, thermobaric rockets, and incendiary weapons tore apart houses, destroyed once-busy streets, and carved the surrounding landscape.

By 6 January in Bakhmut, 60% of all buildings were destroyed. Recent satellite imagery suggests that the final share could be much higher.

Bakhmut Slider 1

Russia's refusal to give up the offensive has led many to argue that they have achieved nothing more than a Pyrrhic victory.

But suffered and Ukraine, adhering to the principle that their army was ready to endure pain if only Russia would feel it more.

The capture of Bakhmut can be hailed as a victory in Moscow, but the battle also served a purpose in Kiev.

Russia finally won. But at what cost?