Battle is raging in Bakhmut. The city is currently the most active and violent front line in the war for Ukraine. After a string of defeats in Kharkiv and Kherson, the Russian army is scrambling to make gains, pouring soldiers and Wagner mercenaries into Bakhmut. FRANCE 24's reporters James André and Mayssa Awad visited the city to see how its last remaining residents are holding on under constant artillery fire.
The sound of war is constant in Bakhmut, to the point that residents don’t even react when the shells fly over anymore. Most buildings have had their windows shattered or have been completely destroyed.
Fighting has intensified in recent months, as Russia tries to fasten its grip over the four provinces it illegally annexed in September - Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Donetsk, where Bakhmut is located – as Ukraine tries to reclaim them.
Since the fighting began, most of Bakhmut’s prewar 70,000 population has fled. The few residents who remain must now survive with no electricity, no gas, no running water, no heat and no network.
One of them is Serhii, who runs the only coffee kiosk that remains open in the city. He serves powdered coffee and brings warm water in a thermos.
“I’ve moved out to Chasiv Yar, 10 kilometres away, but I work here so I come every day. Actually my two houses are on the other side of the Bakhmoutka river - they were both destroyed.”
Other residents gather at a humanitarian aid point that has been set up to provide food, coffee, heat, power and sometimes wifi. It is often crowded.
“We are human, so we are scared. We have to look after the elderly, because half of them are alone, and they come here, they need help, and we understand their need. If not us, then who?” Tatiana, one of the volunteers, explains.
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