• The Ukrainian city of Bakhmut is slowly being approached by Russian troops who are bombarding it with artillery.
• By seizing the city, Russian forces would have access to Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, two important Ukrainian strongholds.
• Parts of Donetsk and Luhansk have been under the hands of pro-Moscow rebels since 2014.

The eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut is slowly being approached by Russian troops who are bombarding it with artillery.

While most of the recent fighting has taken place in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine, the conflict escalating near Bakhmut shows Russian President Vladimir Putin’s desire for apparent victories after weeks of obvious failures.

By seizing Bakhmut, Russian forces would have access to Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, two important Ukrainian strongholds in the Donetsk province, while also cutting off Ukraine’s supply lines. Parts of Donetsk and the neighboring province of Luhansk have been under the hands of pro-Moscow rebels since 2014.

Assed Baig of Al Jazeera reported from Bakhmut on Friday that there was a “exchange of fire” going on between the Russians and the Ukrainians.

Despite modest progress, the Russians are still outside of Bakhmut, according to Baig. “The Ukrainians claim to have successfully repelled the attacks.”

The assault is reportedly being led by mercenaries from a Russian military outfit called the Wagner Group.

Putin acknowledged the independence of the self-declared republics supported by Russian forces before Russia invaded Ukraine in full on February 24. Russia illegally seized Donetsk, Luhansk, and two additional provinces that were partly or entirely controlled by Russian soldiers last month.

For more than five months, Russia has repeatedly pounded Bakhmut with rockets. After its troops forced the Ukrainians to leave Luhansk in July, the ground assault quickened. The area of interaction is now outside the city.

In his nightly address to the country this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed that Russia’s protracted search for Bakhmut exposed Moscow’s “craziness.”

Zelenskyy claimed that for months, “they have been concentrating the greatest strength of artillery strikes there, forcing people there to their deaths day after day.”

Local authorities report that on Wednesday and Thursday, at least three individuals were killed by shelling. As Russian troops continue their attacks on Bakhmut and Avdiivka, a small city located 90 kilometers (55 miles) to the south that is still under Ukrainian control, four additional deaths were reported between Thursday and Friday in the Donetsk region, according to the Ukrainian governor of the province.

Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko claimed that because the area has turned into a battle zone, the civilian population is suffering.

Kyrylenko stated in televised remarks that “those who remain in the region live in continual anxiety without heating and electricity.” “The weather and Russian artillery are not their only enemies.”

“There are evidence of damage all around us,” added Baig. The city’s power is also out, and we can’t stop hearing the war and fighting going on.

He stated, “Many individuals have already gone,” and added, “Others have sought refuge in cellars.”

Given its deteriorating situation in Kherson and its loss of control over significant portions of the northeastern province of Kharkiv to a Ukrainian counteroffensive last month, Russia needs a success in Bakhmut. The regions were some of the first ones that the Russian military took control of after invading Ukraine on February 24.

Samuel Ramani, an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based defense think tank, claimed that Russia was losing on all fronts. To appease domestic sceptics and convince the Russian public that the war is still proceeding as planned, “they need the appearance of some sort of an offensive triumph.”

Human rights organizations have charged the Wagner Group, which has taken a key part in the conflict, with using its hired soldiers to commit atrocities. Their positioning surrounding Bakhmut demonstrates Moscow’s strategic value in the city. The mercenaries may or may not have gained significant advantages, Ramani said.

The Wagner Group is quite good at terrorizing the local populace, but far less so at actually seizing and retaining territory, he claimed.

At best, he claimed, Russian forces are moving closer to Bakhmut by 1km (0.6 miles) per week.

According to Kyrylenko, the governor of the Donetsk region, the city had roughly 73,000 residents before the war, but about 90% of them have now departed.

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