The Russian army and the leader of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigojine, claimed responsibility for the capture of the city on Saturday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denied the capture and his army claimed to be carrying out counterattacks.
Gutted buildings, charred trees, scorched earth… From Bakhmout, a mining town in eastern Ukraine that has become the epicenter of fierce fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces, there is no more “Nothing”, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday, May 21. The day before, the leader of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, Evguéni Prigojine, then the Kremlin, assured to have “totally liberated” this locality, after the longest and deadliest battle since the beginning of the war.
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kyiv denied this Russian victory in stride. Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that the city was not “not busy”and the Ukrainian army assured to hold “the defense of several buildings and a number of fortifications in the southwestern part” of Bakhmout. Images show that there is nothing left to defend: the fighting has ravaged the city, pushing residents to flee their homes. Franceinfo returns, in pictures, to the extent of the destruction.
Ukrainian forces released several aerial photos of Bakhmout, in southeastern Ukraine, on May 21, 2023. On this one, the flames attack a building, already largely devastated. (ARMED FORCES OF UKRAINE / AFP)
In this photo, still published by the Ukrainian army on May 21, 2023, we see a charred building, partly collapsed and still on fire. (ARMED FORCES OF UKRAINE / AFP)
A thick cloud of smoke covers the city of Bakhmout in this photo released on May 21, 2023 by Ukrainian forces. A building burns in the foreground. (ARMED FORCES OF UKRAINE / AFP)
This image, also transmitted by the Ukrainian army on May 21, 2023, shows a half-collapsed residential building in Bakhmout. (ARMED FORCES OF UKRAINE / AFP)
A row of buildings ravaged by fighting, on May 19, 2023 in Bakhmout (Ukraine). (RIA NOVOSTI / SPUTNIK / SIPA)
In this photo dated May 18, 2023, piles of debris are spread between destroyed buildings in Bakhmout (Ukraine). The trees, largely burned, were also victims of the fighting. (RIA NOVOSTI / SPUTNIK / SIPA)
This satellite image, released by Maxar Technologies, shows devastated schools and apartment buildings in Bakhmout, Ukraine, on May 15, 2023. (MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES / AFP)
On this satellite image, also taken on May 15, 2023 by the company Maxar Technologies, buildings in Bakhmout (Ukraine) are burning. (MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES / AFP)
Several plumes of smoke float above the city of Bakhmout on April 26, 2023. Rubble produced by the explosions litters the ground. (LIBKOS / AP / SIPA)
This photograph, taken on April 23, 2023 from a car, shows residential buildings damaged by shelling in the city of Bakhmout (Ukraine). (ANATOLII STEPANOV / AFP)
Two Russian soldiers make their way through the debris, in a street in Bakhmout destroyed by fighting, April 14, 2023. (EVGENY BIYATOV / SPUTNIK / SIPA)
A building in Bakhmout (Ukraine) devastated by fighting and flames, February 27, 2023. (DIMITAR DILKOFF / AFP)
A sign of the length and intensity of the fighting in the city, this building in Bakhmout (Ukraine) had already been ravaged on November 29, 2022. (YEVHEN TITOV / AFP)
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