Inside Ukraine’s costly mission to grind down Russia near Bakhmut

NEAR IVANIVSKE VILLAGE, Donetsk Oblast – Thuds of incoming artillery were loud as four senior servicemen from Ukraine’s 24th Assault Battalion (Aidar) walked through the mud to their dugout.

“Everything is being watched,” one of them said, asking the others to take shelter.

Russia’s reconnaissance drones are closely monitoring movements across the Bakhmut front, trying to locate Ukrainian positions like this dugout-turned-command center.

Ukraine responds by using drones of its own to spot Russian forces, passing coordinates to mortarmen a few kilometers away, set to destroy the Kremlin’s infantry.

“We watch streams provided by the drones and control our artillery, fire mortars, and make adjustments,” Denys, a 34-year-old lieutenant and mortar battery commander from Kyiv with the call sign “Lighthouse,” said once he entered the dugout.

Denys’ mortarmen are covering several defense lines of infantry deployed in front of them, with the furthest standing as close as 50 to 100 meters from the Russian forces.

After months of being on the defensive, Ukrainian forces are taking the initiative and conducting localized counterattacks on the flanks near Bakhmut.

Denys, who leads a team of up to 50 mortarmen deployed near Bakhmut since October 2022, is taking an active role in the fight.

Ukraine had more success south of Bakhmut, where more villages like the southwestern Ivanivske are located, rather than in the north – an open field where every movement is easily detected.

Though Bakhmut had fallen to Russia in May, Ukrainian soldiers believe the city served its goal – grinding down Russia’s offensive capability that it could otherwise use elsewhere.

They say that Russia concentrated its troop and equipment deployment to Bakhmut, which may have helped the Ukrainians launch a counteroffensive in the country’s southeast.

But the cost Ukraine paid to defend Bakhmut for so long was high.

Even if Russia’s losses were higher, several hundred Ukrainian soldiers were killed on the toughest days of the battle, according to soldiers’ accounts. They said some battalions, usually numbering between 400 to 1,000 soldiers, were wiped out.

Ukraine has not officially reported its casualties in the battle for Bakhmut, but it is expected to be staggeringly high.

According to the testimonies of soldiers from various brigades, thousands have lost their lives fighting for the city – with infantry taking the heaviest losses.

“It feels like a never-ending process, a scary game,” Denys said. His unit has been fighting here for eight months.