Battle for Bakhmut bogs down in trench warfare with growing casualties

Fighting around the key eastern Ukraine town of Bakhmut has descended into a bloody morass with hundreds of dead and injured reported daily, as neither Russian nor Ukrainian forces have been able to make a significant breakthrough after months of fighting.

- Peter Beaumont

As Russia moved fresh formations to the Bakhmut sector recently, including reinforcements previously in the Kherson region, the fighting descended into trench warfare reminiscent of the first world war.

Images emerged at the weekend of Ukrainian soldiers in flooded trenches and battlefields dotted with the stumps of trees cut down by withering artillery barrages. Heavy fighting continued yesterday around Soledar, with mercenaries from the Russian Wagner Group includes pardoned convicts - in the forefront.

Ukraine's presidential office said at least four civilians had been killed and 11 wounded in the latest Russian attacks. Intense fighting was continuing along the frontline in the east, with the Russians shelling Bakhmut and Toretsk.

"People are sheltering in the basements, many of which are filled by water," said the governor of Donetsk, Pavlo Kyrylenko. "They have been living in catastrophic conditions without power or heating."

The focus of much of the recent fighting, however, has been Bakhmut itself, largely abandoned by its 70,000 residents, with both sides sending reinforcements for a battle that has continued relentlessly since the summer as Moscow has sought a victory after a series of battlefield setbacks and retreats.