Bachmut's city centre is now virtually under Russian control, but a Ukrainian counterattack still underway on the outskirts of the city could be the start of the Russians' withdrawal from the city. This is the opinion of Andriy Babityev, who now describes how the counterattack started.
"We were a couple of kilometres in the centre of Bachmut, where it became too dangerous for us because we were half surrounded. So a decision was made to retreat towards the outskirts of the city. We received reinforcements with both a lot of ammunition and new brigades that managed to push back the flanks and occupy certain heights. In this way, a corridor could be created to get our soldiers out, he says.
Now Ukrainian soldiers are at the same heights from which they themselves had been shelled just a few weeks earlier.
How Bachmut became important for the counteroffensive
Andriy Babityev, a 47-year-old from the city of Dnipro, volunteered for the Ukrainian army as soon as the war broke out. Before that, he worked as a manager at a printing company and in his spare time he discovered the world and Ukraine from his motorcycle. Little did he know at the time that he would be one of the soldiers who would take part in Ukraine's bloodiest battle to date. A blow that has proved beneficial for Ukraine's upcoming counteroffensive.
"It was politically important for Russia to take Bachmut and our strategy was to defend the city to the end to gather as many Russian soldiers and equipment as one place. In this way, Ukraine could prepare elsewhere for the upcoming counteroffensive, he said.
Ukraine's new strategy
Ukraine's new strategy regarding Bakhmut is to continue to push back more flanks around the city and finally encircle the entire city center and lock in the enemy. In this way, according to Andriy Babityev, they want to cut off all transport routes currently used by the Russian soldiers so that neither weapons, food nor soldiers get in or out.
"Ukraine is not going to storm the city because there are only ruins left and they don't want to waste human lives, so the goal is to surround the city and get the enemy to leave it of their own accord. But this will take time, maybe months," says Babitjev.