<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">"This is the toughest operation I've ever seen. The enemy has thrown its strongest assault at Bakhmut. We haven't seen troops like this before," the Ukrainian commander tells us.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Commander Skala, as he wants to be called, is controlling the Ukrainian operation to defend the city of Bakhmut in the eastern Donbas region from an underground chamber off a nondescript street. It is one of the main command centres the Ukrainian military has set up in the city, and few journalists have been here.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A tall, hefty man with sparkling eyes, he watches a live feed from a drone hovering outside the eastern edge of the city on a big screen in the centre of the room.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">One of the battalion's units is trying to spot the location of Russian positions, to aid another unit which has just gone out to defend eastern approaches to Bakhmut under attack.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In addition to Russian armed forces, mercenaries from the private paramilitary Wagner group have been sent in their thousands to front lines around Bakhmut.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Wagner soldiers openly advance under fire towards us even if they're littering the land with their bodies, even if out of 60 people in their platoon only 20 are left. It's very difficult to hold against such an invasion. We weren't prepared for that, and we're learning now," Commander Skala says.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Some weeks ago, we lost positions on the eastern approaches to the city because the enemy was constantly storming us with assaults. We moved to secondary front lines to save our soldiers," he adds.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We are trying to work smartly and get those positions back. Sometimes you have to withdraw to attack the enemy properly."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin has said Ukrainians have turned every house in Bakhmut into a fortress, and that there were now "500 lines of defence".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Russia has been using all its might to try to take Bakhmut - a battle considered critical for the country after it lost ground in Ukraine in recent months, being pushed out of Kherson in the south and the Kharkiv region in the north-east. Capturing Bakhmut is also important to further Russia's aim to control the whole of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Throughout our conversation with Commander Skala, muffled explosions can be heard from above ground. The second you step outside, the sound is loud enough to make your heart pound - the terrifying whistle of shells flying in followed by the deafening boom of the impact.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And the sound never stops as the bombs keep falling.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">One resident described it as "the end of the world" and there are moments when it feels like that.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Bombs have ripped through the middle of apartment blocks, blown away the facades of buildings and created craters by the side of streets. It was hard to find a window in Bakhmut that was intact. The ground is littered with broken glass and debris.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This was once a quiet, ordinary town in the east, known for its sparkling wine. Now, it's become a byword for war and Ukraine's resistance.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It lies at a vital road intersection, but over the months, the battle here has gained a symbolic importance. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently called it the "fortress of our morale".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Bakhmut used to be home to just over 70,000 people before the war. Just a tenth of its residents - mostly elderly or poor - remain.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">While the streets are largely empty, we see dozens of civilians in an aid centre, known here as a "resilience centre".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It has power, and wi-fi provided by Elon Musk's Starlink satellite system. Volunteers distribute small packets of food, medicines and other basic supplies. A wood-burner in the centre keeps the room warm.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This is a lifeline for the people in Bakhmut.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Many sit huddled around electrical points, trying to charge up their phones.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">What's remarkable is that even when shells land just a few hundred metres from the centre, people don't flinch. It's as if they've become numb, running from bombs every day.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Trauma is visible on many faces though.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Why don't you leave, we asked Anatolay Suschenko, who was standing in a queue for some food.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"I have nowhere to go. I'm alone. Who would want to take an 86-year-old?" he said. "Here, at least sometimes when soldiers throw away food or soup, I find it and eat it. And I get free bread. In my whole life, I've never seen anything like this. All the windows of my house have been blown off, and the gate has been destroyed."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">People have different reasons to stay. Olha Tupikova sits in the corner of the room with her 13-year-old daughter Diana.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"I think everywhere in Ukraine is equally dangerous. Some of our neighbours left and died elsewhere. Here we have a house. We have cats and dogs. We can't leave them," she said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Our roof has 21 holes and the garage has nine. I mend them every time, and try to repair the windows too. Normally the holes are caused by shrapnel, but lately we've had stones flying in too, making holes that are the size of a head." BBC</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>