Bakhmut Battle Documentary | Ukraine’s Fiercest and Longest Fight of the Russo-Ukrainian War
This documentary explores the Battle of Bakhmut, the longest and bloodiest fight of the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War. Discover how this brutal siege turned the city of Bakhmut into a symbol of resistance and one of the fiercest urban battles in modern European history.
📌 In this video you will learn about:
The strategic importance of Bakhmut in the Donbas region.
Key moments of the battle and military tactics used by both sides.
The heavy cost in soldiers, civilians, and infrastructure.
Why the Battle of Bakhmut became a turning point in the Ukraine War.
If you are interested in Ukraine war documentaries, battle analyses, or modern warfare history, this video is for you.
👉 Don’t forget to subscribe for more war documentaries, historical analysis, and military history content.
#Bakhmut #UkraineWar #WarDocumentary #RussoUkrainianWar #History
This documentary explores the Battle of Bakhmut, the longest and bloodiest fight of the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War. Discover how this brutal siege turned the city of Bakhmut into a symbol of resistance and one of the fiercest urban battles in modern European history.
📌 In this video you will learn about:
The strategic importance of Bakhmut in the Donbas region.
Key moments of the battle and military tactics used by both sides.
The heavy cost in soldiers, civilians, and infrastructure.
Why the Battle of Bakhmut became a turning point in the Ukraine War.
If you are interested in Ukraine war documentaries, battle analyses, or modern warfare history, this video is for you.
👉 Don’t forget to subscribe for more war documentaries, historical analysis, and military history content.
#Bakhmut #UkraineWar #WarDocumentary #RussoUkrainianWar #History
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LearningTranscript
00:00welcome to the dust of history channel if i were to describe a battlefield with soldiers huddled in muddy trenches crawling through minefields and engaged in fierce close-quarters combat
00:12on might naturally picture scenes from the early to mid twentieth century perhaps verdun or the ruins of stalingrad yet these images unfolded not in some bygone era but in ukraine only a few years ago and the conflict is still ongoing today
00:29beginning in august twenty twenty two bakhmut a modest city in eastern ukraine was transformed becoming one of the longest and most ferocious engagements of the current russo-ukrainian war what had once been a provincial hub known for salt mines and vineyards became a charred landscape of shallow ravines shell-pocked avenues and bomb-scarred ruins
00:52by the time the fighting ended the vibrant life of the city had been extinguished only a few hundred residents remained amid streets and fields now strewn with waist-deep craters and mine strewn rubble
01:05the scale of devastation humanitarian distress and military investment in a city of fewer than seventy five thousand people was unprecedented in europe since world war ii
01:16the human toll on combatants was equally severe being described as a meat grinder estimates suggest that up to one hundred thousand russian personnel including twenty thousand vagna group mercenaries were either killed or wounded in the campaign
01:32on the ukrainian side while figures are less precise some records note tens of thousands of casualties with entire brigades sometimes losing over eighty percent of their manpower each day hundreds of lives were lost on both sides a grim reminder that while the battlefield may have seemed like a relic of a different hedge
01:52the human suffering was all too present in this episode we will explore how a relatively mundane city became the centerpiece of a deadly campaign we will examine the political and military road to bakhmut its geography and strategic value and the harrowing details of the battle itself reflecting on what the struggle for bakhmut reveals about the wider war in ukraine
02:16a war that as of this recording remains ongoing welcome to wars of the world music music in late 2013 widespread protests erupted in kiev after president victor yanukovych abruptly abandoned a planned association agreement with the european union opting instead for closer ties with moscow these demonstrations known as the maiden revolution escalated in february 2014
02:45culminating culminating in violent clashes that left over 100 dead in what was the bloodiest week in ukraine since independence in 1991 yanukovych fled the country and a new interim government with a pro-western orientation was installed russia labeled the change of
03:03government as an illegitimate coup within days unidentified armed men later confirmed to be russian special forces
03:12seized control of key sites in crimea which was ukrainian territory this rapid stealth operation led
03:18to a referendum for crimea to join russia on march 16 2014 the legitimacy of which was disputed internationally
03:27official results showed 97 percent were in favor of joining russia with the vote occurring under heavy
03:33russian military presence on the 18th of march russia formally annexed crimea an act which was condemned by
03:40the united nations general assembly which overwhelmingly affirmed ukraine's territorial integrity
03:47in the wake of crimea's annexation pro-russian separatists seized government buildings in donesk and
03:53luhansk declaring independence from kiev ukraine responded by launching a military operation but the
04:00conflict hardened into a stalemate the minsk agreements of 2014 and 2015 aimed to halt the fighting yet skirmishes
04:08continued and the toll by early 2022 had reached at least 14 000 deaths and 2 million displaced behind
04:16the scenes nato and the eu were also reacting the alliance condemned russia's actions and reiterated
04:24its opposition to spheres of influence emphasizing ukraine's right to sovereign decision making including
04:30eventual membership to the eu at the same time ukraine accelerated its military reform and received
04:37additional western weaponry such as high mr rocket systems enhancing its capability to withstand russian advances
04:45moving into early 2022 president vladimir putin formally recognized the independence of the self-proclaimed
04:52donesk and luhansk people's republics framing his move ace a mission to protect ethnic russians in eastern ukraine
05:00then on february 24 2022 russia launched a full-scale invasion opening multiple fronts putin's government
05:09cited nato's eastward expansion as justification along with alleged threats against russian-speaking
05:15populations the russian strategy appeared to aim for a swift victory attempting rapid encirclements on
05:22kiev and kharkiv however ukraine's forces having retrained and rearmed since 2014 offered stubborn
05:30resistance and enjoyed increasing support from their western allies while the campaign to capture ukraine's
05:36capital faltered russian accepted significant losses by mid-2022 the initial thrust deep into ukraine had
05:44slowed and russian forces pivoted towards the donbass region as their primary objective capturing this area would
05:51not only fulfill declared goals of liberating donesk and luhansk but also help to establish a continuous
05:58land corridor from russia to crimea amateur strategic aim since 2014. the seaborne corridor to crimea had
06:07been disrupted by ukrainian strikes on russian naval assets underlining the importance of securing ground
06:13routes it is here that attention turned to bakhmut a relatively small city baton positioned along key
06:20regional lines of communication as the front lines shifted eastward bakhmut emerged as the next focal
06:27point in russia's advance across donesk oblast russian officials continued to frame operations in the area as
06:35part of a broader special military operation designed to protect russian speakers and dismantle ukraine's military
06:43infrastructure dot ukrainian forces meanwhile prepared extensive defensive positions to resist any attempt
06:50at a breakthrough thus by summer 2022 a long lasting struggle for bakhmut was set in motion russia was pushing
06:59to consolidate its hold on donbass and secure crimea while ukraine was digging in to prevent another
07:06breakthrough bakhmut's importance lay not in its size but in what it represented a defensive bulwark
07:13a symbolic prize and part of a wider geopolitical contest that had begun with maidan accelerated in
07:21crimea and spilled into the war's current front line before the war bakhmut was a modest yet historically
07:28rich city in eastern ukraine's donesk oblast historically speaking bakhmut held strategic value long before
07:362022 a fortress was built there in the 16th and 17th centuries beside the bakhmutka river where the city
07:45gets its name salt works and housing grew up around it as the railways arrived in the late 19th century
07:52by the early 20th century industrialization had pushed the city outward along the highways and rail
07:58and by mid-entry population had peaked around 83 000 over time during the 19th and 20th centuries
08:06bakhmut grew into a modest industrial hub its economy anchored in salt and gypsum mining while its
08:13underground caverns served as sellers for a notable sparkling wine industry earning bakhmut a reputation
08:19as the city of wine and roses lined with leafy avenues parks and late 19th century buildings the city
08:27maintained a modest tourism scene that complemented its industrial base demographically bakhmut reflected
08:35eastern ukraine's linguistic tapestry the population had dipped to around 75 000 dollars in early 2022 with
08:43around 70 percent of residents identifying as ethnic ukrainians along with a significant russian minority of
08:51about 28 percent and a mix of ethnic belarusians armenians roman jews though not a major metropolis bakhmut's appeal
09:01in military terms lay in its position as a logistical crossroads it sat at the intersection of key road
09:08arteries notably the mo3 which connects kiev to donesk and their rail lines which serve the wider donbass
09:16region from kiev's perspective holding bakhmut was vital for delaying russian advances disrupting supply
09:24chains and buying time to build robust defensive lines further west for russian forces control of bakhmut
09:31would not only offer a springboard towards larger cities like kramatsk and slavansk but also help to
09:38secure a continuous land link from russia to russian-held crimea moreover a capture promised symbolic value
09:46an image of a tangible russian progress in a war where success had been comparatively slow both
09:53sides used the city's character and heritage when forming their narratives for ukraine president
09:59zelinski portrayed bakhmut as a fortress of morale and a link to pride culture and identity for russia
10:08and its backers seizing it would mark a significant gain in their special military operation
10:13by late summer 2022 the landscape surrounding bakhmut had shifted from a quiet if tense agricultural
10:22region tune of the most violently contested zones in the war russian forces began their assault in
10:28earnest between august and october slowly tightening their position around the city's outskirts villages
10:35like opiden ivanrad and versina became the front lines of a grinding advance often changing hands multiple
10:42times under a ceaseless storm of artillery central to this phase was the involvement of the vagna group
10:49a russian private military company whose tactics became infamous as the battle unfolded initially
10:56formed years earlier for clandestine operations fagna had by this point evolved into a semi-official
11:03arm of russia's military strategy in ukraine their recruitment drive had focused on russian prisons
11:09trading clemency for combat by deploying former
11:16convicts alongside their seasoned fighters wagner could flood narrow sectors with manpower regardless
11:22of the cost one captured russian soldier told cnn that from his unit of 600 only around 170 remained
11:30after a few weeks of operations these forces were used as shock troops probing ukrainian defenses absorbing
11:38casualties and then giving way to regular russian formations their own commanders would reportedly
11:44refer to this as meat grinder tactics for ukrainian troops defending the line the conditions were
11:51unrelenting as autumn progressed both sides dug into a style of warfare that bore eerie similarities to the
11:58great battles of the 20th century fields were carved up by trenches stretching for hundreds of meters across
12:04open ground ukrainian defensive lines extended outward from the city center in layers designed
12:10tablant any direct assault the soil churned by shell fire and tracked vehicles had turned to thick mud
12:17trenches were reinforced with timber tires wire mesh and whatever other material could be scavenged
12:24according to france 24 soldiers reported that it could take up to two weeks to dig a new position
12:30under the shell fire often using only basic tools and limited cover in contrast to the trenches reminiscent
12:38of warfare from the early 1900s the air above gave way to modern technology as the use of drones became
12:45ubiquitous both sides had employed commercially adapted quadcopters for surveillance and artillery spotting
12:53but their use quickly evolved into offensive roles as well some dropped modified grenades
12:59others acted as suicide drones flying directly at their targets the skies above bakhmut buzzed constantly
13:06with their presence yet with every new innovation came a countermeasure russian forces in particular
13:12began jamming the drone signals using electronic warfare tools attempting tabland ukrainian units or to
13:20hijack their video feeds the battle for bakhmut thus became a fusion of old and new a war of trenches and
13:27minefields but also of drones jamming and precision strikes ukrainian defenders were often forced to
13:35operate in near total isolation navigating through belts of mines that blanketed the approaches to every
13:41strong point one ukrainian soldier named seri told cnn how he was wounded and then trapped in a dugout for
13:48days with limited water and medical supplies surviving on chocolate and painkillers dropped by drones
13:55as russian troops encircled his position seri had no choice but to call artillery on his own coordinates to escape meanwhile a member of ukraine's honor company recounted preparing trenches
14:07under the constant threat of shelling and drone strikes when russian troops breached their perimeter in the early hours of april
14:15his unit scrambled through holes blasted in rooftops to ambush these attackers forcing them to retreat
14:21others described nighttime supply missions where quadcopters were used not for attack but to deliver vital items
14:28blood bags water ration packs improvisation was often the difference between survival and disaster
14:36from the russian side testimony suggested morale was far from uniform one wagner recruit said that
14:42they were paid well but thrown into near suicidal assaults with little regard for casualties
14:48another russian soldier recounts his experience after being abandoned by his commander
14:54in an attempt to surrender to his ukrainian enemies quote i hid in the trenches those who wanted to run from
15:02one position to another were simply shot down by machine guns and tanks then i heard the ukrainians
15:07approaching us he started shouting we surrender then they threw a grenade at us i was lucky that i wasn't
15:15killed by the grenade and that i surrendered as a prisoner i felt fear pain and disappointment in my commanders
15:22end quote similar to the wars of the 19th century artillery remained king russian forces regularly fired tens of
15:31thousands of shells per day a figure vastly outmatching ukraine's own firepower at this time forests were flattened
15:39and buildings collapsed into rubble ukrainian units operated under a constant barrage designed not to destroy
15:47specific positions but to grind defenders down psychologically tank crews like those of the ukraine's
15:54the 93rd mechanized brigade record firing hundreds of mortar rounds in a single 20r span trying to stall
16:01wave after wave of russian movement one crew member told the guardian that they had to rotate shifts underground
16:08just to avoid mental and physical collapse throughout these months wagner's role expanded the group
16:15reportedly took on responsibility for securing bakhmut's southern and eastern flanks where the terrain allowed
16:21for less armored maneuver and more infantry-led assaults their fighters advanced building by building
16:27trench by trench often under the cover of night but progress was slow and brutally costly despite localized gains in the
16:35rural outskirts ukrainian positions inside bakhmut itself held firm creating a patchwork front line in which neither side
16:43could claim full control what became clear during this phase was that neither russia nor ukraine
16:49viewed bakhmut as acidity to be taken or held quickly for russia the battle served both as
16:56a stepping stone to further advances in detsk and as a demonstration of their resolve
17:02the capture of bakhmut however long it took would serve as a symbolic counter to months of stalled offensive
17:09so swear for ukraine the city became a defensive anchor holding it meant bleeding russian forces dry
17:16buying time to reinforce other fronts and potentially laying the groundwork for future counter-attacks
17:23by the end of october the battle lines had barely moved in a strategic sense yet the human cost had
17:29already been enormous trench lines snaked across fields and forest belts mines littered no man's land
17:36and drones watched from above and deep underground in bunkerson cellars soldiers on both sides dug in
17:43for what was becoming one of the most defining and punishing chapters of the ware
17:48by november 2022 the battle for bakhmut had escalated into a full-scale urban offensive russian forces
17:56bolstered by vanya infantry and redirected regular units intensified assaults on surrounding towns with
18:03the clear aim of fan circling the city the nearby town of solidar entrenched on the city's northern
18:09flank became a pivotal battleground repeated russian attacks throughout october had failed to secure
18:16solidar but in early november vagna units had renewed their efforts with wave-like assaults ukrainian deputy
18:23defense minister hannah mala later described this zone as the epicenter of fighting despite fierce
18:30resistance by late december vagna forces captured bakhmutska village on the 27th of december advancing in
18:38tandem on solidair itself the nearby yakov livka was also overtaken between the 14th to the 16th of
18:46december prompting ukrainian reinforcement these successes broke through ukraine's northern defenses
18:54swinging momentum towards bakhmut in early january 2023 a decisive blow was landed on january 10th
19:03russian forces reportedly seized solidar salt mine and associated tunnels these mineshafts have become
19:09tactical strong points and by january 16th the town was effectively under russian control though ukrainian
19:17officials delayed confirmation until january 25th this capture opened the northern gateway for a more
19:24sustained siege of bakhmut in the meantime president zelinski had made surprise visits to frontline troops
19:32first on december 20th 2022 praising them for superhuman resilience and then again in late march 2023
19:40these visits underscored the city's symbolic and morale boosting significance for kiev with the fall of
19:47solidar russian forces tightened thering around bakhmut from february onwards by the first of february
19:55russian troops were threatening key supply lines along the mo3 and h-32 highways to the north on february
20:0211th the village of krasnahora fell bringing russian lines nearly within artillery range of bakhmut's eastern
20:09suburbs despite the mounting pressure ukraine held fast however attrition was intense analysts estimated
20:17up to 820 russian casualties between bakhmut and solidar in mid-february by the 22nd of february russian
20:25forces had almost encircled the city with fronts emerging to the south east and north of bakhmut in early
20:32march ukraine executed a tactical withdrawal from the eastern bank of the bakhmutka river moving to
20:38fortified positions and destroying bridges to slow russian advance despite these measures street
20:44fighting began in earnest by the 4th of march with one deputy mayor stating that russian force had not
20:51yet breached the city center meanwhile wagner's leadership had framed the situation as near total
20:58encirclement over the next week urban combat intensified by march 11th the uk ministry of defense
21:04reported that wagner units were taking the lead while the river area had become a killing zone
21:10the asan chemical plant lying deep within eastern bakhmut fell to wagner forces on the 26th of march
21:18marking achy strategic and psychological victory for the attackers in early april further ground was lost by
21:24the ukrainians on april 2nd wagner claimed to have raised a flag above the city hall though ukrainian forces
21:32disputed the scope of that claim either way the city center itself reportedly came under russian
21:38and wagner control by april 6th despite this ukraine retained pockets of resistance by april 11th
21:46british defense sources suggested that more than 20 percent of the city remained under ukrainian control
21:52as late as april 26th british intelligence reported activity around the western outskirts near kromov
21:59ukrainian forces continued launching limited counterattacks slowing further
22:07russian consolidation through this period the battle for bakhmut exemplified a war of attrition
22:14neither side could deliver a decisive blow quickly each tactical gain solidar krasnora the am plant came at a high
22:22cost russian forces particularly vagnia units bore heavy casualties in the effort to tighten the
22:28encirclement ukrainian defenders despite suffering retreats across the river and loss of industrial
22:35positions held on resiliently using urban terrain to their advantage this chapter of bakhmut's defense
22:43prepared the way for the final phase when in may 2023 russian forces would finally claim near total
22:49control of the shattered city by may 2023 nine months of grueling combat had reduced bakhmut to
22:57ruins on may 20th yevgani prigoyan leader of the vagna group announced that his fighters had completely
23:04taken the city raising a russian flag in the devastated city center the russian ministry of
23:11defense and president vladimir putin supported this claim attributing the victory to wagner's
23:16determination and the regular army's logistical backing however ukraine dismissed reports of total defeat
23:24deputy defense minister hannah meyer described conditions as critical but insisted that ukrainian
23:29forces still held parts of the western suburbs commander alexander silsky echoed her comments
23:36stating that heavy fighting continued on the flanks and that ukrainian units were launching
23:41counter-offensives around klitschka and orikovo vasilivka british intelligence likewise confirmed
23:49residual ukrainian positions along the to504 highway notably in the southwest even as russian forces
23:57solidified their hold on central districts in the following days praguyan announced a planned
24:03withdrawal wagner would hand over control of the city to regular russian forces and dpr aligned
24:10militia by june 10th he publicly blamed high casualties and severe ammunition shortages on russian military
24:18leadership warning that wagner troops risk dying senselessly without proper supply the fall of bakhmut would
24:25have more profound consequences than a simple local triumph praguyan's repeated complaints of shell
24:31hunger and accusations of bureaucratic sabotage highlighted deep fissures between wagner's privately
24:38campaign and the russian defense ministry these tensions escalated later into a high-profile armed mutiny in
24:45june although it ultimately subsided praguyan later died in august under mysterious circumstances
24:52the casualty figures following the battle were staggering independent researchers estimated that
24:58nearly 20 000 vana fighters many recruited as convicts or with little training were killed in the
25:04ten-month operation at an average of over 200 fatalities each day ukrainian losses are harder to quantify
25:12precisely but ua losses confirms over eleven eight hundred ukrainian soldiers were killed russia
25:18presented bakhmut as a symbolic victory the first unambiguous battlefield success since early 2022
25:26meanwhile ukrainian leaders framed their defense as a strategic operation aimed at depleting russian
25:33resources and delaying further offenses elsewhere ultimately bakhmut's fall was neither an unequivocal
25:40victory nor a defeat instead it marked the culmination of an extraordinarily bloody siege with contested claims
25:49heavy losses on both sides and persistent uncertainty about real control by the close of may 2023 the battle of
25:57bakhmut had left the city in ruins and reshaped the fortunes of both armies the human cost was staggering
26:04with the average of over 200 fatalities daily making it one of russia's bloodiest engagements since the
26:11second world war material devastation was also vast by may bakhmut's pre-war population of around 75 000 had
26:21all but disappeared in the bow a few hundred residents remained amid shattered buildings and waist-high
26:26minefields the city's centuries-old heritage including its salt mines and vineyards lay smothered beneath
26:34rubble mud and debris from an analytical perspective bakhmut offered tactical advantages and symbolic
26:41value but its strategic importance was limited control of bakhmut provided russia with a modest
26:47boost to the land corridor between donetsk and crimea and allowed artillery to reach deeper into ukrainian
26:54defended areas however both the uk ministry of defense and u.s national security council labeled its
27:00capture as largely symbolic with little effect on the broader front analysts such as conrad musea and
27:08mark galati pointed to the classic case of a sunk cost fallacy arguing that russia pursued a costly
27:14prestigriven objective as the value of the territory did not justify the human expenditure
27:20for ukraine the defense came at a steep cost placing trained units and key artillery assets into bakhmut
27:28depleted their reserves which were needed for planned spring and summer counter-offensives yet advocates of the defense like the institute for the study of war and analysts such as george baros and retired colonel mark khanian argued that forcing russia into a war of attrition was strategically sound
27:46they claimed that ukrainian resistance significantly weakened russian offensive capacity preventing deeper
27:52advances into donetsk and limiting moscow's ability to launch their other operations the consequences
27:59also extended beyond the battlefield fagny's heavy losses ignited a bitter public feud between yevkini
28:06pragoyan and the russian ministry of defense damaging russian military cohesion and culminating in a failed
28:13mutiny in june and the mysterious death of pojan in august in contrast ukrainian morale received a boost
28:22president zelinski repeatedly visited bakhmut underscoring it as a fortress and a symbol of national
28:28resilience in the months that followed bakhmut became a staging ground rather than a frontline
28:34node russia shifted to consolidating positions mining farmland and preparing their defenses while ukraine
28:41refocused on counter-offensive planning with fresh western equipment reconstruction efforts faced
28:48daunting challenges widespread demining infrastructure rebuilding and the question of whether displaced residents
28:55could return ultimately the battle of bakhmut stands as one of the rarest pirate victories in modern warfare
29:02russia's claim to have won came with a tremendous cost and ukraine's decision to defend so fiercely likewise
29:09depleted its own strength as strategic analysts continue to debate its value certain conclusions emerge
29:17the battle served as both a nutritional test and a political statement its symbolic impact may well
29:23eclipse its tactical payoff and while neither side achieved a decisive operational advantage the ripples of
29:30bakhmut continue vagna was fundamentally weakened ukrainian forces lost experienced personnel and the
29:37unsequent city of bakhmut has become a potent symbol of national endurance and the wider costs of war
29:53what they eat and the well-OK
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