It’s more than semantics for Russia’s Vladimir Putin to say he has “captured” the city of Bakhmut in Ukraine when in fact it has been wiped off the face of the Earth.
Nothing remains of the 400-year-old city of 71,000.
Capturing implies taking control.
But in Bakhmut there’s nothing but rubble.
Few houses remain. Or stores, schools or hospitals. Industries and churches, shopping malls and gyms are little more than smoldering ruins.
The city has been compared to Hiroshima in the aftermath of the atomic bomb.
“Today, Bakhmut is only in our hearts,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday.
DESPITE RUSSIA’S claim otherwise, Bakhmut’s protracted decimation is not a turning point in its 15-month offensive. It’s a pyrrhic victory emblematic of Putin’s vainglorious campaign — a willingness to sacrifice untold lives in an impossible quest to reclaim a long-gone empire.
The cost of the war is immeasurable, emotionally and empirically.
Tens of thousands have died. Millions are now refugees. And damage to Ukraine’s economy, environment and infrastructure is in the billions.
The fighting on both sides grows more sophisticated and ruthless. The notorious Wagner Group, a shady network of thugs paid to kill, has assumed some of Russia’s dirtiest work.
Russia’s biggest weakness is its lack of reserves. Its forces are exhausted and depleted leaving Putin no choice but to round up more recruits from an unwilling populace.
To Ukraine’s advantage is its unflagging determination to preserve its homeland.
A common refrain among Ukrainians is, “We’ll see you after victory.”
The allegiance of Western leaders is also invaluable.
“We have Ukraine’s back,” said President Joe Biden last weekend at a conference of the Group of 7 powers meeting in Japan, adding that he had agreed to support an international coalition to train and equip Ukrainian pilots with the F-16 fighter jets, a significant upgrade from its Soviet-era aircraft.
While military hawks have accused Biden of dragging his feet with the fighter jets, administration officials say it’s a two-pronged plan: Introducing military assistance incrementally helps defuse the threat of escalation by Russia, especially in terms of nuclear armaments, while equipping Ukraine to defend its borders far into the future.
