Two Cities, Two Armies: Pivot Points in the Fight in Ukraine’s East (original) (raw)
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A soldier walked across the remains of one of the main bridges in Bakhmut, Ukraine. The bridge was destroyed in September as Russian forces shelled the city.
The battle for the critical Donbas region in Ukraine is centered on two strategically important cities: Lyman, held by the Russians, and Bakhmut, held by Ukraine. The fighting over the cities is fierce as both armies race to claim new ground.
A soldier walked across the remains of one of the main bridges in Bakhmut, Ukraine. The bridge was destroyed in September as Russian forces shelled the city.Credit...
- Sept. 26, 2022
DONETSK REGION, Ukraine — The Ukrainian soldier walked to the edge of the river, looked toward the sound of artillery in the distance and cast his fishing rod toward the murky green water below. His nonchalance on Ukraine’s front line close to the eastern city of Lyman was telling: His comrades nearby were winning.
To the southeast, less than 30 miles away, a group of Ukrainian soldiers, rifles slung and helmets donned, moved cautiously to the wreckage of a destroyed bridge in the center of another city — Bakhmut. The high pitched whistle of a Russian artillery round, followed by a plume of dirt and smoke nearby, sent just as telling a signal: The Russians were pounding away, and getting close.
The battle for the critical Donbas region in Ukraine’s east is now centered on these two strategically important cities; the fighting is fierce as both armies race to claim new ground before winter sets in.
In the broader war, momentum remains with the Ukrainians, whose sweeping victories in the country’s northeast this month exposed ineptitude and glaring weaknesses in the Russian force. But the Donbas, which President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia considers his primary prize, is a different, more entrenched fight.
Ukraine is pushing hard to reclaim Lyman, a railway juncture that serves as an important supply hub on the western edge of the Donbas. Russian forces control the city, but Ukraine is hoping to use it as a gateway to push farther east and maintain its momentum.
Bakhmut is an entry point to part of the region still held by Ukrainian forces. Capturing it would also give Russia a win after being routed in humiliating fashion in the north. The Russians have been shelling Bakhmut incessantly for the past three months.
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