Inside Bakhmut’s blackened nightmare Ukrainians are terrified – but Russia’s domination could be a pyrrhic victory
It is a long, nervy and treacherous walk to the frontline trenches around Bakhmut.
As we make our way through woodland, the war crashes and booms around us.
Although Ukraine has made small gains in the open ground around the flanks, its hold inside the city is looking increasingly desperate.
Ukraine war latest live as soldiers uncover drones
Russia has captured at least 95% of the buildings and is still pushing forward.
To get to the defensive positions outside the main city means leaving cover and traversing farmland.
Russian drones are looking for movement – targets for their artillery.
As we move we hear shells screeching overhead and then the heart-thumping moment they smash into the ground just a few hundred metres away.
In the trenches, the soldiers are hardened to the dangers – and from here you can see the city up close.
Bakhmut appears like a vision from a nightmare.
The buildings are just blackened bones of a place where people used to live.
On the horizon, we witness a smoking wreck of rubble and death.
If it falls it will be a pyrrhic victory for Moscow – they’ve lost tens of thousands of soldiers here.
But it will be a major military and psychological blow for Ukraine nonetheless – Kyiv has invested a huge amount in its defence.
Read more on the battle for Bakhmut:
Ukrainian city a smoking ruin as Russians forced back in disarray
The battle of Bakhmut is not about seizing vital ground
‘We will fight to the end’
From a covered position we watch as shell after shell is unleashed on this city under siege.
Bakhmut has seen the fiercest urban combat of anywhere in the world since the Second World War.
The men who are its defenders tell us they are only holding on. But they will not give up.
One soldier tells me: “We are on our land and we will protect this land.
“We have a great motivation, a very great motivation, to protect our land.
“And I think that the enemy understands that we will fight to the end.”
Further along the frontline is the city of Chasiv Yar and with Russia controlling nearly all of Bakhmut, it could be next.
From the window of a shattered apartment block, the troops here show me where Vladimir Putin’s forces are moving.
Use the sliders below to see Maxar satellite images of Bakhmut 12 months ago compared to today
‘It’s a scary situation’
The crisp spring day is fractured by the thunderous sound of shells exploding nearby.
Large plumes of smoke mushroom over the tree line.
Ukraine’s main counteroffensive may not have started but the fighting remains intense.
At the command centre, they know the big push is looming – but until it starts they must keep Russia from advancing further.
It is not easy.
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Inside the battle for Bakhmut
The Deputy Section Commander, Andriy, speaks candidly about the reality of this grinding conflict.
“Enemy forces attack our positions every day, night and day… we fight for all the power we have, and I don’t know – it’s actually a very difficult and scary situation.”
This war is exacting a terrible price on Ukraine.
Every building is battered – and it’s getting worse
The most savage fighting, in the Donbas, has forced the majority from their homes – here shells land in streets without warning.
As we drive we see a vehicle on fire. It’s just been hit by artillery.
Every building is battered.
And Moscow’s indiscriminate use of violence is getting worse.
It’s becoming a nightly occurrence – towns and cities are being hit with barrages of missiles and drones.
In Kramatorsk, we see frightened people clearing up after a large bomb exploded in their neighbourhood in the middle of the night.
There’s no military target here – just apartment blocks – and civilians who are terrified.
Valentyna was sleeping at the time of the explosion.
She tells me: “I trembled, could not stand up, and take at least one step. I was shaking.
“My son dragged me into the bathroom. When we left, there was dust everywhere – terrible.”
Each day in Ukraine brings more carnage and each day this war goes on there’s a little less hope.
US president-elect Donald Trump has suggested Israel and Hamas could agree a Gaza ceasefire by the end of the week.
Talks between Israeli and Hamas representatives resumed in the Qatari capital Doha yesterday, after US President Joe Biden indicated a deal to stop the fighting was “on the brink” on Monday.
A draft agreement has been sent to both sides. It includes provisions for the release of hostages and a phased Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza.
Qatar says Israel and Hamas are at their “closest point” yet to a ceasefire deal.
Two Hamas officials said the group has accepted the draft agreement, with Israel still considering the deal.
An Israeli official said a deal is close but “we are not there” yet.
More than 46,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its ground offensive in the aftermath of the 7 October attacks, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
Read more:
What’s in the proposed deal?
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on beachfront cafe in Deir al Balah. Pic: Reuters
Biden hails possibility of agreement
President Biden said it would include a hostage release deal and a “surge” of aid to Palestinians, in his final foreign policy speech as president.
“So many innocent people have been killed, so many communities have been destroyed. Palestinian people deserve peace,” he said.
“The deal would free the hostages, halt the fighting, provide security to Israel, and allow us to significantly surge humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians who suffered terribly in this war that Hamas started.”
Qatari mediators have sent Israel and Hamas a draft proposal for an agreement to halt the fighting.
Analysis:
Deal might be close, but there are many unanswered questions
Pic: Reuters
Trump: ‘We’re very close’
President-elect Donald Trump has also discussed a possible peace deal during a phone interview with the Newsmax channel.
“We’re very close to getting it done and they have to get it done,” he said.
“If they don’t get it done, there’s going to be a lot of trouble out there, a lot of trouble, like they have never seen before.
“And they will get it done. And I understand there’s been a handshake and they’re getting it finished and maybe by the end of the week. But it has to take place, it has to take place.”
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Pic: AP
Israeli official: Former Hamas leader held up deal
Speaking on Tuesday as negotiations resumed in Qatar, an anonymous Israeli official said that an agreement was “close, but we are not there”.
They accused Hamas of previously “dictating, not negotiating” but said this has changed in the last few weeks.
“Yahya Sinwar was the main obstacle for a deal,” they added.
Sinwar, believed to be the mastermind of the 7 October attacks, led Hamas following the assassination of his predecessor but was himself killed in October last year.
Under Sinwar, the Israeli official claimed, Hamas was “not in a rush” to bring a hostage deal but this has changed since his death and since the IDF “started to dismantle the Shia axis”.
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Biden: ‘Never, never, never, ever give up’
Iran ‘weaker than it’s been in decades’
Yesterday, President Biden also hailed Washington’s support for Israel during two Iranian attacks in 2024.
“All told, Iran is weaker than it’s been in decades,” the president said.
Mr Biden claimed America’s adversaries were weaker than when he took office four years ago and that the US was “winning the worldwide competition”.
“Compared to four years ago, America is stronger, our alliances are stronger, our adversaries and competitors are
weaker,” he said.
“We have not gone to war to make these things happen.”
The US president is expected to give a farewell address on Wednesday.
A draft ceasefire deal on the table between Israel and Hamas would see 33 hostages set free and a phased withdrawal of IDF forces from parts of Gaza.
President Joe Biden said an agreement to stop the fighting was “on the brink” and high level negotiations between the two sides resumed in Qatar on Tuesday.
The deal would see a number of things happen in a first stage, with negotiations for the second stage beginning in the third week of the ceasefire.
It would also allow a surge in humanitarian aid into Gaza, which has been devastated by more than a year of war.
Details of what the draft proposal entails have been emerging on Tuesday, reported by Israeli and Palestinian officials.
Relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages hold photos of their loved ones during a protest on 8 January. Pic: AP
Hostages to be returned
In the first stage of the potential ceasefire, 33 hostages would be set free.
These include women (including female soldiers), children, men over the age of 50, wounded and sick.
Israel believes most of these hostages are alive but there has not been any official confirmation from Hamas.
In return for the release of the hostages, Israel would free more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
People serving long sentences for deadly attacks would be included in this but Hamas fighters who took part in the 7 October attack would not be released.
An arrangement to prevent Palestinian “terrorists” from going back to the West Bank would be included in the deal, an anonymous Israeli official said.
Read more:
A timeline of events since the 7 October attacks
The hostages who still haven’t returned home
Smoke billows as buildings lie in ruin in Beit Hanoun in Gaza. Pic: Reuters
Phased Israeli withdrawal from Gaza
The agreement also includes a phased withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, with IDF troops remaining in the border perimeter to defend Israeli border towns and villages.
Security arrangements would be implemented at the Philadelphi corridor – a narrow strip of land that runs along the border between Egypt and Gaza – with Israel withdrawing from parts of it after the first few days of the deal.
The Rafah Crossing between Egypt and Gaza would start to work gradually to allow the crossing of people who are sick and other humanitarian cases out of Gaza for treatment.
Unarmed North Gaza residents would be allowed to return to their homes, with a mechanism introduced to ensure no weapons are moved there.
“We will not leave the Gaza Strip until all our hostages are back home,” the Israeli official said.
What will happen to Gaza in the future?
There is less detail about the future of Gaza – from how it will be governed, to any guarantees that this agreement will bring a permanent end to the war.
“The only thing that can answer for now is that we are ready for a ceasefire,” the Israeli official said.
“This is a long ceasefire and the deal that is being discussed right now is for a long one. There is a big price for releasing the hostages and we are ready to pay this price.”
The international community has said Gaza must be run by Palestinians, but there has not been a consensus about how this should be done – and the draft ceasefire agreement does not seem to address this either.
In the past, Israel has said it will not end the war leaving Hamas in power. It also previously rejected the possibility of the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited governing powers in the West Bank, from taking over the administration of Gaza.
Since the beginning of its military campaign in Gaza, Israel has also said it would retain security control over the territory after the fighting ends.
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