Battle of Bakhmut

Significance

The Battle of Bakhmut was one of the largest engagements on the eastern front of the Russo-Ukrainian War, drawing in approximately 85,000 Russian troops against a Ukrainian force of around 30,000. The scale of casualties on both sides — Russian losses estimated between 10,000 and 65,670, Ukrainian losses between 5,000 and 23,000 — led some military analysts to characterize it as the bloodiest battle since the Second World War. The contest centered on control of the city of Bakhmut and was a defining engagement of the war's eastern theatre. The presence of Yevgeny Prigozhin on the Russian side and Oleksandr Syrskyi commanding Ukrainian forces reflected the high operational priority both belligerents assigned to the city. The sustained attritional intensity made Bakhmut a focal point of the broader eastern front campaign.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (2)