Images of Ukrainian soldiers standing in water- and mud-filled trenches in Bakhmut, strikingly similar to World War I scenes, have been shared on social media.

the trenches of BakhmutPhoto: video shooting

Damp, November cold and a few traces of snow. The soldiers are in wet clothes, sometimes with their boots directly in the mud, or sleep on homemade beds so as not to stand directly in the mud.

“While Ukrainian civilians are facing problems with electricity, heat and the network in most regions, our defenders in Bakhmut are fighting for the will of Ukraine in such conditions,” wrote Anton Gerashenko, adviser to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, shared in play a video with Ukrainian soldiers.

Some netizens have compared images from Bakhmut to images from the First World War.

On August 1, the Ministry of Defense of Russia officially announced the beginning of the battle for Bakhmut, however, despite certain successes recorded especially in the southern part of the attack direction, Russian troops have not yet managed to occupy the city, even after almost 4 months of fighting

In mid-October, Ukrainian defenders reported that Russian forces had begun attacking Bakhmut using kamikaze drones obtained from Iran, with some reports suggesting that Moscow had also redeployed troops withdrawn from Kherson, as well as troops deployed after the partial mobilization decree in Russia 21 September .

However, the group’s mercenaries are leading the offensive, and on November 10, Ukrainian forces reported that Wagner’s group had suffered 140 casualties, including 40 dead, in just one day of fighting near the city of Bakhmut.

Three days later, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi called the fighting in the Donetsk region “hell”.

“It’s just hell there – extremely fierce battles are going on there every day,” said the Kyiv leader about the struggle of Ukrainian defenders during repeated Russian shelling.

“It’s a meat grinder,” said Jakub Yanovsky, one of the military analysts who writes articles for the well-known website Oryx, about the battles near Bakhmut.

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