On the evening of May 20, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that Russian forces were in full control of Artemovsk (the Ukrainian name is Bakhmut). The battles for the city have been going on since the autumn of 2022 and turned out to be one of the bloodiest.

According to the head of Wagner PMC Yevgeny Prigozhin, approximately 20 thousand of his fighters were killed in Artemovsk. The Armed Forces of Ukraine, according to his own assessment, lost 50 thousand people killed and 50-70 thousand wounded. Kyiv did not officially report the losses.

Politicians and military experts rightly noted that the settlement did not initially have special strategic significance, but over time it gained tremendous symbolic significance due to the huge resources that each side spent on fighting for it.

Now, judging by the drone footage, the city looks almost deserted. Most residential buildings and administrative buildings were damaged.

The first photos of Artemovsk after the battles are in the Gazeta gallery.