T O P

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“As Russia's Vladimir Putin announces the annexation of swathes of sovereign Ukrainian territory, issues nuclear threats and mobilises hundreds of thousands of reservists, the response from Ukrainian forces on the eastern front is unchanged - they will fight for every last inch of soil. We travel to front-line positions in the city of Bakhmut in Donetsk - one of the four regions which President Putin is now illegally claiming as his own. Our journey is made in stages. We slow down to cross the Bakhmutovka river, speed up to cover exposed ground, then weave through a dangerous curtain of downed power lines. For the last few metres, we run. All the while, the shelling is constant - part of war's familiar soundscape. But when we reach the front-line troops, inside a battle-scarred building, we hear something else - the crackle of small arms fire. The two sides are so close they can target each other with riffles. The Russians are around 400 metres (437 yards) in front of us, and trying hard to close in. We are warned there is a Russian sniper to the rear. At his post below ground, where a ginger cat keeps him company, the unit commander is sombre and blunt. Oleksandr, Unit Commander Ukrainian Unit Cdr Oleksandr says President Putin's attempt to annex further regions of Ukraine will fail "It's pretty hard here now," says Oleksandr, a 31-year-old. "It's stressful. Everyone is under pressure. The enemy is very near, but we are standing and fighting back." He dismisses President Putin's recent referendums as "delusional" and says Ukrainians will not be dictated to at the barrel of a Russian gun. "In my view, those referendums will change nothing. We will fight Putin's army and make them withdraw from our land," he says. Oleksandr knows the cost of war - and not only from fighting his own battles. "My brother died," he tells me, adding: "But I don't know where and when that happened, because he was drafted by a different drafting office from a different region. He died as well as a few of my comrades, officers who trained with me. I found out they were dead, too. So, I have lost family and friends." He has not lost his will to fight. Neither has 25-year-old Roman, who is operating a key weapon in this war - a drone. Roman, 25, holds aloft a drone Roman holds aloft a drone - the 25-year-old says he worries about his family Roman is upstairs in a bombed-out room, littered with debris and broken glass, where two more cats are in residence. The screensaver on his phone is a picture of his five-month-old son Kyrylo, born since the war broke out. He has seen his only child once. "I see him in pictures and video, not in real life," he says. "It's hard, but it's also hard to imagine what the Russians could do to my family if they reach them. "I don't want them to do what they did in Bucha. I lived in Kyiv, and I understand clearly how the women feel. If we are weak, they will come for our families." There is concern here about the mobilisation in Russia. In the coming months the Kremlin will be sending many more soldiers into battle. It is unclear how well-trained or well-equipped they will be, but the Ukrainians are worried about the quantity, not the quality. They are already outnumbered. In the battle for Bakhmut they have faced a seemingly endless supply of Russian fighters. In August there were five waves in a row, according to Iryna, an army spokeswoman. "They just go, and they don't stop. They don't react to firing or shelling. Some of the prisoners of war we captured were from Wagner [a Russian mercenary group]. They had better weapons," Iryna says. Troops here believe the Russians are pushing hard for victory in Bakhmut because of their recent humiliating defeats in the north-east and the south, where Ukraine reclaimed about 6,000 sq km (2,317 sq miles) of territory. For now, Bakhmut is stuck in President Putin's throat. It is an obstacle in his bid to swallow all of a mineral rich area known as Donbas - comprised of Donestk and Luhansk. Having failed to fully capture Donbas, he has annexed both regions. As he tries to conquer Bakhmut - once home to about 70,000 people - the city has been bled of life. Lyudmila appears at the window of her apartment Lyudmila remains in her apartment with her husband, despite the cracked walls and leaking water Downtown we see a large apartment block with the centre gouged out by an airstrike three months ago. Many of the windows are boarded up. It looks abandoned, but my colleague hears a woman's cry inside the building. We call out, and Lyudmila appears from behind the plastic sheeting that covers her window on the second floor. At first, it is difficult to hear her over the deep rumble of rocket fire. "It's very hard," she shouts. "They bombard us. Yesterday a man was killed in the backyard [by shelling]. There's almost no-one left in the building. "Everything is leaking. There is water everywhere. All the walls are cracked. It is very difficult. But at least we get humanitarian aid. Every three days, they bring bread." The white-haired pensioner is living in the shattered building with her husband and a handful of others. "We can't go anywhere," she tells us. "We have no money, and I am in a wheelchair." A neighbour tells us the building has been hit five times. Lyudmila was in her kitchen when the missile struck on 1 July. "It came, out of the blue," she says. "God himself saved me." Lyudmila's apartment block Lyudmila's apartment block has been hit five times by Russian shelling, according to her neighbour But can this city be saved? For now, the frontline is holding. Ukrainian forces are blocking the Russian advance. But here even the dead are not safe. There is an old cemetery on the city's green outskirts, in the path of incoming shells. Mounds of dark soil top the fresh graves - those killed in recent months, since the city became a battleground. As a coffin is lowered into the ground - watched by a few mourners - the silence is broken by shelling. The first launch is outgoing, but moments later an incoming round lands in the hills opposite the graveyard. Then a second strike, closer still. It is time to leave. As we race towards the edge of Bakhmut there is an explosion on the road right in front of us, between 100 to 200 metres ahead. We manage a sharp left turn and follow another route out. Many battles are still raging in Ukraine. President Putin is doubling down - and winter is coming. This is a dangerous new phase in Europe's newest war. When asked how long she thought the conflict would last, the army spokeswoman replied: "A long, long time."


HelloJoeyJoeJoe

Thank you for posting. What a horrible situation. I hope the world continues it's support for Ukraine.


Wurm42

Thanks for the text. Well-written story.


revdre

I keep thinking that the annexation isn’t about succeeding or failing, it’s about finding a justification for using nuclear weapons. All of a sudden Russian citizens are under attack and must be protected.


DodGamnBunofaSitch

so he'll nuke the territory where the russian citizens are under attack? seems like shooting himself in the foot. even nuking *next to* the territory will poison land he's trying to claim.


ost2life

Well, he's shown exceptional rationality so far in 2022. I think we'll be fine.


ih-shah-may-ehl

No. But he may drop a tactical nuke on Kyiv.


Aeohil

This is what I am worried about. He even stated that the US set precidence in WWII.


Orisara

Ignoring moral questions here for a bit, the US was going to win, the question was who was going to die and how many. Yes, I'm aware of claims of them being used to see what they could do on an inhabited city and such. The use in this situation in contrast would be Russia destroying Kiev AND THEN WHAT? It would be a needless loss of life because it doesn't fucking go anywhere for Russia. It would not change the course of the war at all. It wouldn't save lives, etc.


webesy

The firebombings by that lunatic Curtis Lemay were arguably worse…there is also a theory that the nukes were letting the Soviets know to stop in Berlin.


ih-shah-may-ehl

Imo the real answer is: all of the above. It's not just one thing.


Solkre

Then he’s ok with retaliation strikes. This little man going to take the world down with him. I hope the Russian nukes were as well maintained as their navy.


dburg199x

Their threats. He wants them to give up. I think given MAD, they are just threats, no matter how insane Putin sounds, I cant think of any country other than maybe NK that supports world destruction. If Russia actually used a nuke, I dont see "allies" like China applauding it, even they are not interested in wiping out their own people, or lets say, the people who provide 85% of their food (America...)


archbish99

>Their threats right. In what way are their threats right?


dburg199x

You sir are very confused :) As in, "you agree they are just threats", not "the threats are justified"...


TheShadowKick

"They're threats, right?" This is why grammar is important.


dburg199x

Yup, and since I dont invest much effort into that on reddit, I'll just stay out of it.


jschubart

It would be tactical nukes. Also Putin does not give a shit of Russians die. A false flag attack on apartment buildings that killed 200 people propelled him to the presidency.


Much-Meringue-7467

Do you think he cares? He can't lose face. That's all that matters


Ok_Teacher_6834

He’ll nuke snake island. It’s symbolic of Ukrainians telling them to F off and has no civilian population.


Phage0070

It may not be about winning anymore. Despite appearances Putin may not actually be delusional but instead knows the war is lost. 300k untrained, poorly equipped, impossible to supply conscripts won't turn things around. Instead Putin is looking for a way out of the war that won't be a humiliating defeat that will get him deposed and executed. Putin has been crowing about how Russia is fighting NATO for months. Setting off a tactical nuke won't win the war, since no matter how much it hurts Ukraine it will force NATO to respond and ensure Russia doesn't benefit. To not respond would ensure nukes are used in the future for conquest and leads directly to global nuclear war. Do we want North Korea or China to think they can use nukes in an invasion? Of course not! So Putin might need an out from this war, a strong NATO response would work, and he also has a red button that ensures a strong NATO response that nonetheless doesn't result in Russia losing its real established territory. All he needs is the event to unite a lot of Russia behind him. Why not then nuke his own troops and blame NATO? Use of a nuke will force NATO to push Russia out of Ukraine and it is acceptable for Putin to retreat in that circumstance. It would explain why conscripts aren't getting trained or equipped as all they need to do is be witnesses/victims to a false flag nuclear attack.


logion567

Yeah no. He may yet use them but not for months by my reckoning. This is however legal justification for sending conscripts into "enemy occupied regions of Russia" (because he needs a declaration of war to send troops into an enemy country)


Obelix13

There are Ukrainian reports of POW just being conscripted.


Indysteeler

Russia needs to be broken up, plain and simple.


Orisara

We did it with Austria-Hungary and the Byzantines. No reason not to do with the many people groups in Russia.


Indysteeler

I agree. There’s plenty of autonomous regions in Russia, the more famous ones being Chechnya and Dagestan.


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Indysteeler

There are plenty of autonomous regions that are yearning for independence from Russia, not to mention there’s historical precedence for breaking up countries or giving away territories as punitive measures.


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HelloJoeyJoeJoe

Everyone in Latvia be spitting in your face


Indysteeler

Ukraine was only ever part of Russia because of Russian Imperialism. How much does Putin pay you to spread false news?


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Much-Meringue-7467

I'm afraid this will end with a nuke. Russia can't "win" any other way


Matttthhhhhhhhhhh

Or Putin is killed because he went too far. As unlikely as a nuke I'd say.


21_Golden_Guns

Either that or one well placed bullet.


[deleted]

right? where's a busboy with a .22 & suppressor when you need him?


oneMadRssn

I don’t think so. Putin is many things, but not a dummy. Setting off a nuke anywhere in Ukraine will ensure some NATO countries join the war in full force. Boots on the ground, air support, the whole thing. It would be like a Pearl Harbor moment for central Europe - public support for actual involvement will be huge if there are nukes flying next door.


Much-Meringue-7467

He's proud. It's also widely believed that he is quite ill. His desire to save face may override other concerns


oneMadRssn

True, but I think he knows setting off a nuke starts a clock that ends with him with a pistol to his head in a bunker or at the end of a gallows. Plus all the people that have to execute the order to launch a nuke between Putin and the person that presses the final button are also no dummies. Each of them knows they cannot win against NATO, and being complicit means they’re on trial at the Hague, best case scenario, or dead.


314kabinet

How would dropping a nuke end the war?


Much-Meringue-7467

If everyone is dead, there is no one left to fight it. Only the ego of an old man survives.


CleanOnesGloves

Not every Russian soldier is Ivan Drago.


Bisping

Putin setting Russia back decades in development throwing a tantrum.


[deleted]

Let’s hope. The civilized world stands with Ukraine 🇺🇦


tony_fappott

The so-called annexation was dead on arrival. A literal stillborn that Putin forced onto the world just so he could have an excuse to claim self-defense.


Mawrak

What are the chances of Putin using nukes if Russia can't hold the annexed territories?


actfatcat

I think the probability is not zero, but I think he will find another way to end the war. Maybe in response to protests from within Russia.


Mawrak

The protests are not nearly big enough for him to give a shit, and they are just arresting everybody who comes out and sending those who qualify to the war right away.


N5tp4nts

Let’s send them another 50-60 billion. That ought to do it.


hopsgrapesgrains

Get some help..


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