Ukrainian troops are preparing to hold the line in eastern Bakhmut using trench warfare tactics reminiscent of World War I. FRANCE 24 speaks with those fortifying positions around the city.
“We are firing artillery at them and they are firing back. We have pushed them back a bit and that’s good,” says Captain “Hifest”.
Soldiers also set up mortar positions in a destroyed building. After months spent caught in the crossfire, civilians walk the streets, seemingly oblivious to what is going on.
This kind of situation has become normal for them, says Leonid, a Ukrainian combat medic. And yet the battle for eastern Bakhmut is raging just a kilometre away.
Ukrainian soldiers are digging themselves in all over Bakhmut in case the Russians manage to make any significant progress. Their objective is clear: hang on to the city, no matter what.
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