Bakhmut is “hell on earth”, “a city where there is no living space”, – say Ukrainian soldiers who experienced the horror of the confrontations in the city, where the fiercest battles against the Russian invaders are being fought, reports the correspondent of Agerpres. who spoke to soldiers who had been in the “hottest place in the world” for more than three months.

Regardless of whether it was day or night, frost or slush, cold or heat, rain or snow, holiday or ordinary day, Monday or Sunday, they were continuously on the battlefield under the blows of Russian artillery.

They saw death with their own eyes, but what was even worse, they saw their comrades killed by the enemy. With low morale and depleted forces, they find their last resources to resist the invasion from the East.

“There is nothing left, the whole earth is burning”

Such moments were also experienced by the young lieutenant of the Ukrainian army Oleg Sapiga. He is 36 years old, but the last three months have been a nightmare that never seemed to end.

“Our mission was to defend the positions in Bakhmut, pursue the enemy and prevent the enemy from taking new positions.

The city practically does not exist, it is destroyed, the enemy is constantly attacking block by block, destroying all the infrastructure, the local population is practically non-existent, those who remain are forced to seek shelter in basements, and when the Russians destroy the buildings in the basement of which they are, they must leave city. The situation is very complicated.

The saddest moments are connected with the death of my comrades. Wounded and dead. This is the most difficult for me. Secondly, it is the difficulty of evacuating wounded fighters, because evacuating a wounded person is very difficult. (…)

It is difficult to put into words what Bakhmut means. There is no housing there. Any position is destroyed completely, from scratch. There is nothing left, the whole land is burning, because of the artillery, because of the occupying troops,” said Oleg, who left the front line on Friday.

The young lieutenant, who hails from Khmelnytskyi, lives in the hope that victory will be for Ukraine.

“We don’t understand what these people are fighting for”

Also on Friday, 30-year-old non-commissioned officer Lucky left the front line, for whom Bakhmut became a great life test. He says that during his stay at the front, he witnessed the atrocities of the Russian side.

“Bakhmut is, first of all, a fortress. We resisted and resisted until the end. A lot of power was used to be able to resist. This is an example for the whole world of what can happen to civilians and military personnel. Bakhmut is an example of the atrocities of the Russians, who are our aggressors.

I have seen how they treat our soldiers and their soldiers, how they treat civilians. The most difficult thing is to watch how you lose those around you, how the city is destroyed, how it is erased from the face of the earth, disappears completely.

We do not understand what these people are fighting for, why they came to us, they are not fighting for territory, I do not know what they are fighting for. What they do, how they mock their own fallen soldiers.

We had cases where we found that to provoke us, they hung the bodies of their dead soldiers on trees at night and we saw it through night vision devices. Then they would create positions under their bodies and shoot at us from there to engage us in battle,” Lucky testified.

“If there is a hell on earth, he is there”

A Ukrainian officer tried to make a robot portrait of a Ukrainian soldier who fought in Bakhmut. One of the characteristics of this soldier is that he returned to the battlefield only because of the desire to defeat the Russian enemy.

“First of all, I want to say that our returning fighters are extremely tired, they are full of emotions, from what they saw there, from the death of their brothers.

They feel all this, but they definitely want to get there again, to fulfill the tasks for which they are sent, to expel the enemies from our territories. If there is hell on earth, he is there,” said Lieutenant Colonel Jagedka.

The city of Bakhmut, located 55 kilometers east of Kramatorsk, is considered the hottest spot on the military map of Ukraine, a symbol of Ukrainian resistance to attacks by the Russian Federation.

The city is considered strategic because it remains under the control of Ukraine, which blocks the approach of Russian troops to the cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, cities with a population of more than 200,000 and 120,000 people, respectively.

80% of Bakhmut is under the control of the Russian military

“Any city, village or settlement is important for Ukrainian defenders. We notice that our soldiers repel attacks, stop the advance of the enemy, especially the border guards.

Of course it is difficult. As soldiers, we all understand that this is a war, but in today’s world it was very difficult to understand that we have neighbors with an aggressor country, which will wage a war of destruction against us with barbaric methods,” said the press officer. military border guard from Eastern Ukraine, Lt. Col. Ihor Lazogub.

(Lieutenant Colonel Ihor Lazogub)

Currently, almost 80% of Bakhmut is under the control of the Russian army, and Ukrainian forces are making efforts to hold at least part of the city.

The civilian population was completely evacuated, and most of the city’s neighborhoods and buildings were destroyed by urban fighting.

In the perimeter of Bakhmut, hundreds of people from both Russian and Ukrainian camps die every day, and hundreds of other soldiers are wounded.