| The obliteration of Bakhmut |
| As fighting around Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine rages on, drone footage taken by The Times on Friday captured the scorched buildings, destroyed schools and cratered parks that now define the city. Acrid smoke hangs heavy over the skyline after relentless shelling. |
| The Russians are declaring victory in this long and bloody battle. Even so, the Ukrainians, making gains on the outskirts, say the city’s obliteration is not the end of the campaign to drive the Russians from the ruins of a once peaceful town known for its salt mines and sparkling wine and now largely reduced to ashes. |
| In a place filled with death and destruction, signs of life are the exception. An estimated 100,000 Russian soldiers were killed and wounded in the battle for Bakhmut. Ukraine also suffered grievous losses in a fight described by both sides as a “meat grinder.” |
| Context: The fight for Bakhmut was the war’s longest and bloodiest battle. Here are maps showing Russia’s grinding advance. |
| Infamy: Bakhmut’s name now stands alongside Gettysburg, Iwo Jima and Falluja — places that few people had heard of until they became of strategic importance in a war, my colleague Thomas Gibbons-Neff writes. |
| On the ground: “By the time Russia declared victory over the ruins, it was clear the city was all but lost,” said Marc Santora, who reported from the region last week. The fight for the land around the city continues, he said. “The city itself is gone — destroyed and under the control of the Russians — but the battle for Bakhmut is not yet over.” |
