The city was previously known for its sparkling wine production in historic underground caves. Its broad tree-lined avenues, lush parks and stately downtown with imposing late 19th Century buildings made it a popular tourist attraction.
When a separatist rebellion engulfed the Donbas in April 2014, weeks after Moscow’s illegal annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, Russia-backed separatists won control of the city but lost it a few months later.Russian troops first attempted to recapture Bakhmut in early August but were pushed back.
Pressure has been mounting on Ukrainian troops trying to hold the city against Russian soldiers hoping to capture it no matter the cost.Western officials claimed around 20,000 to 30,000 Russian troops had died in the siege of Bakhmut, as per BBC.
The Bakhmut battle has exposed Russian military shortcomings and bitter divisions.Prigozhin has been at loggerheads with the Russian defence ministry and repeatedly accused it of failing to provide his forces with ammunition.
On Monday, Prigozhin warned in a Russian social media post that the situation in Bakhmut “will turn out to be a ‘pie’: The filling is the parts of the Armed Forces of Ukraine surrounded by us (in the case, of course, if there is a complete encirclement of Bakhmut), and the shell is, in fact, the Wagner” Group.
On Tuesday, Zelensky in an interview with CNN defended his decision to keep troops in Bakhmut.This is tactical for us,” Zelensky said. “We understand that after Bakhmut they could go further. They could go to Kramatorsk, they could go to Sloviansk, it would be open road for the Russians after Bakhmut to other towns in Ukraine, in the Donetsk direction.”