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DNYUZ/New York Times: In Ukraine, Bakhmut Becomes a Bloody Vortex for 2 Militaries
BAKHMUT, Ukraine — For almost an hour, the stream of Ukrainian casualties in the eastern city of Bakhmut seemed unending: Ambulances, an armored personnel carrier and private vehicles all screamed to a halt, one after another, and disgorged the wounded in front of the city’s only military hospital.
A soldier propped up by his comrades, his face a mass of mangled flesh, walked in the main gate. The dark green stretcher that awaited him was one of several still covered in blood. By around noon on Friday, doctors had counted 50 wounded, many of them soldiers.
The day before was even worse: 240 people had come through the hospital’s doors with everything from gunshot wounds to shrapnel injuries and concussions. “They came in batches — 10, 10, five, 10,” said Parus, one of the Ukrainian medics at the hospital, as artillery screeched overhead and the chatter of machine-gun fire echoed off the surrounding buildings. “In the last couple of days the Russians have tried to advance more intensely.”
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Update #1: Ukraine locked in trench warfare as Russian push for Bakhmut continues (NYPost)
Update #2: Fighting in east Ukraine descends into trench warfare as Russia seeks breakthrough (The Guardian)
WNU Editor: The battle for this Ukrainian city has now been ongoing for four months. What has changed recently is that Russian military forces are now getting involved in this battle, not the Russian mercenary Wagnar group that has waged much of the battle. Bottom line. It looks like this city will fall in the coming weeks.