海角大神

Russian soldiers pummeling a city in eastern Ukraine with artillery are slowly edging closer in their attempt to seize Bakhmut, which has remained in Ukrainian hands during the eight-month war despite Moscow鈥檚 goal of capturing the entire Donbas region bordering Russia.

While much of the fighting in the last month has unfolded in southern Ukraine鈥檚 Kherson region, the battle heating up around Bakhmut demonstrates Russian President Vladimir Putin鈥檚 desire for visible gains following weeks of clear setbacks in Ukraine.

Taking Bakhmut would rupture Ukraine鈥檚 supply lines and open a route for Russian forces to press on toward Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, key Ukrainian strongholds in Donetsk province. Pro-Moscow separatists have controlled part of Donetsk and neighboring Luhansk province since 2014.

Before invading Ukraine, Mr. Putin recognized the independence of the Russian-backed separatists鈥� self-proclaimed republics. Last month, he illegally annexed Donetsk, Luhansk, and two other provinces that Russian forces occupied or mostly occupied.

Russia has battered Bakhmut with rockets for more than five months. The ground assault accelerated after its troops forced the Ukrainians to withdraw from Luhansk in July. The line of contact is now on the city鈥檚 outskirts. Mercenaries from the Wagner Group, a shadowy Russian military company, are reported to be leading the charge.

Russia鈥檚 prolonged drive for Bakhmut exposes Moscow鈥檚 鈥渃raziness,鈥� Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a nightly address to the nation this week.

鈥淒ay after day, for months, they have been driving people there to their deaths, concentrating the maximum power of artillery strikes there,鈥� Mr. Zelenskyy said.

The shelling killed at least three people between Wednesday and Thursday, according to local authorities. Four more died between Thursday and Friday in the Donetsk region, the province鈥檚 Ukrainian governor reported as Russian troops press their attacks on Bakhmut and Avdiivka, a small city about 90 kilometers (55 miles) to the south that also remains under Ukrainian control.

Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said the civilian population was suffering in more ways with the region becoming an active war zone.

鈥淐ivilians who remain in the region live in constant fear without heating and electricity,鈥� Mr. Kyrylenko said in televised remarks. 鈥淭heir enemy is not only Russian cannons but also the cold.鈥�

Russia needs a victory in Bakhmut given it is losing control over large swaths of the northeastern region of Kharkiv to a Ukrainian counteroffensive last month and its deteriorating position in Kherson. The areas were among the first the Russian military captured after the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.

鈥淩ussia鈥檚 suffering defeats across the board. ... They need the optics of some kind of an offensive victory to assuage critics at home and to show the Russian public that this war is still going to plan,鈥� said Samuel Ramani, an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, a defense and security think tank based in London.

The Wagner Group has played a prominent role in the war, and human rights organizations have accused its soldiers for hire of committing atrocities. Their deployment around Bakhmut reflects the city鈥檚 strategic important to Moscow. However, it鈥檚 unclear if the mercenaries have made many tangible gains, according to Mr. Ramani.

鈥淲e鈥檙e seeing a situation where the Wagner Group is quite effective at creating terror amongst the local residents but much less effective at actually capturing and holding territory,鈥� he said. At the very best they鈥檙e gaining 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) a week toward Bakhmut, he said.

While in the city this week, journalists from The Associated Press saw burned-out cars, destroyed buildings, and people struggling to survive amid a cacophony of constant shelling. Bakhmut has been without electricity or water for a month, and residents worry about heating their homes as temperatures drop.

鈥淲e hoped that this [war] would end or that we would have conditions that allow us to live. But since last month, conditions have been terrible,鈥� resident Leonid Tarasov said.

Few shops are open. The AP saw people using firewood to cook on the streets and drawing water from wells.

Bakhmut had a population of about 73,000 people before the war, but approximately 90% have left the city, according to Mr. Kyrylenko, the Donetsk region鈥檚 governor.

Some of those who remained asked in recent days to be evacuated from areas that are now too dangerous for volunteers or soldiers to get to because of the fighting, Roman Zhylenkov a volunteer with the local aid group Vostok-SOS, said.

Others feel trapped.

鈥淧eople who left moved to stay with their children or brothers and sisters. They had places to go,鈥� Ilona Ierhilieieva said as she mixed soup on an open fire by the side of the road. 鈥淏ut as for us, we don鈥檛 have a place to go. That鈥檚 why we are here.鈥�

This story was reported by The Associated Press. AP reporter Sam Mednick reported from Kyiv, Ukraine.