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Bakhmut, which had come to represent the gruelling protracted war in Ukraine more than any other city, was reported to have been captured by Russia in various reports till Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky's spokesperson issues a denial and a clarification. On Saturday, (May 20th) Russia's Wagner group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed that his mercenary fighters along with Russian troops had completed the capture of Bakhmut. He said, "Today, at 12 noon, Bakhmut was completely taken."

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"We completely took the whole city, from house to house," added Prigozhin.

The claim, however, was promptly rejected by Ukraine, whose military spokesperson Serhiy Cherevatyi told Reuters news agency: "This is not true. Our units are fighting in Bakhmut."

Here's all you need to know about Bakhmut's importance in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war:

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The city has been relentlessly attacked by Russia for around eight months now, leaving it as a burnt-out ghost town.

The Wagner group, a private militia owned by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a businessman with ties to Russia's President Vladimir Putin, has been dispatching a barrage of soldiers and mercenaries from Moscow in an effort to attack Ukrainian strongholds, suffering significant losses in the process. Ukraine has also lost more than 1,100 soldiers fighting along the Bakhmut section of the front line, said Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky. 

“In less than a week, starting from the 6th March, we managed to kill more than 1,100 enemy soldiers in the Bakhmut sector alone, Russia’s irreversible loss, right there, near Bakhmut,” Zelensky said in a video address to the nation. 

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The city occasionally looked as though it were about to succumb as Russian forces inched closer. Yet, Ukrainian combatants have maintained their position on ground. 

Russia wants Bakhmut eagerly. But why?

The city of Bakhmut is located in the eastern part of Donetsk, more than 400 miles southeast of Kyiv, and 10 miles from the Luhansk region's border. With a pre-war population of about 71,000, the industrial city was popular because of its salt and gypsum mines.

The battle for Bakhmut can be seen as a targeted attack by Russia, owing to the recent logistical challenges observed by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).  

Inadequate preparation, poor logistics, and unrealistic planning are some of the reasons for the failure of Russia's rapid invasion of Ukraine, according to the Swedish Defence University. 

With the capture of Bakhmut, Russia is in a way trying to cut down all supply routes headed towards Lysychansk, which is where it plans to place a block, said Padmashree Anandhan, research associate, National Institute for Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bengaluru, who spoke to WION. “This would weaken Ukraine’s position on the ground,” she added.

Bakhmut was “not a particularly symbolically or strategically important city” originally, said Karolina Hird, Russia analyst at ISW, who spoke to the Washington Post. 

“Bakhmut has become a tussle for pride,” said Anandhan. It can be seen as a political goal to tell Europe that Russia does have the ability to push back Ukraine. 

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu on Tuesday described Bakhmut as “an important defence node for Ukrainian forces” in the east. 

“Taking it under control will make it possible to conduct further offensives deep into the Ukrainian armed forces’ defences,” he said in a statement.

For Ukrainians, Bakhmut is not just a supply route but an open point to any future fight in Donetsk, keeping in view the geographical location of the city. 

The defeat of Bakhmut might compel Ukraine to consider how long the conflict might last and how it can employ new weaponry to advance in Donetsk, said Anandhan. 

Additionally, Bakhmut is an industrial region, rich in mining reserves. Losing hold of the city can have economic ramifications for Ukraine. Hence, Ukraine might not really want to give up on Bakhmut that easily, added Anandhan.  

What does Ukraine look like on a map, one year into the war?

Russian ground forces entered the country fast and took over a sizable portion of Ukraine within a few weeks. They had reached the outskirts of Kyiv and were in complete control of Sumy and the majority of the country's northeast, as per the ISW.

Russian soldiers were engulfing the port city of Mariupol while shelling Kharkiv and seizing land as far as Kherson in the east and south.

However, they encountered fierce Ukrainian resistance nearly everywhere and encountered significant logistical challenges due to an acute shortage of food, water, and ammunition, as reported by the BBC. 

ALSO WATCH | Gravitas Plus: Explained: The Battle for Bakhmut

The NLAW anti-tank system, which was quickly deployed by Ukrainian forces and proved to be quite effective against the Russian assault, was one of the weapons delivered by the West.

With the influx of more western ammunition, the situation changed for Ukraine. Russia had entirely withdrawn from the north after failing to capture Kyiv, reported the BBC. 

As Russia was forced to retreat from Kharkiv, Ukraine achieved its first significant victory and launched a counterattack near Kherson.

Ukraine has the authority of Kherson and has mostly stopped the Russian push in the east for the time being after the invasion one year ago.

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