“Additional Issues”
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk stated on her Telegram channel that, based on her data, on February 16 five civilians were killed and nine were injured in Bakhmut.
She noted that heavy fighting continues in the city and that enemy artillery is being used in residential areas.
“Honestly, I’m surprised that 6,000 civilians remain in the city. That figure reflects the latest data. Civilians who are competent, law-abiding, and patriotic must evacuate immediately,” Vereshchuk wrote.
She explained that when civilians stay in the city, they, along with adults, “endanger themselves and their loved ones, especially children who are forced to stay.”
Vereshchuk also highlighted that civilians who do not leave Bakhmut create “additional problems and risks” for everyone in the area—the army, national police, and volunteers who attempt to assist them.
“Third, staying civilians hinder our defense and security forces from functioning normally in the city. They must always consider your safety. I urge immediate evacuation. You know how to do this and where to go.”
Strategic importance of Bakhmut
Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the Wagner PMC, told Izvestia that capturing Bakhmut carries strategic weight for Russian troops.
“What is Bakhmut for? It is needed to completely paralyze the Ukrainian army. And it looks like it is having that effect. Today, intelligence estimates show about 90 battalions in and around the city—roughly 40 to 50 thousand people,” Prigozhin said.
He added that the enemy is throwing in new reserves each day, but Russian forces, along with Wagner militants, “advance daily in different directions”—often just 50 to 100 meters at a time. Prigozhin emphasized that battles are fought for every house, every garden, every fortified area.
In his view, the Russian Armed Forces should strike other directions in Donbass as well.
Izvestia reported that Bakhmut is a key defense hub for Ukrainian forces. If Russian troops seize the city, they could threaten Ukraine’s ability to take the Artemovsk–Chasov Yar highway, one of the remaining supply routes for Ukrainian forces.
On February 16, advisor to the acting head of the DPR, Igor Kimakovsky, stated on Soloviev Live that Russian troops had control of all heights around Bakhmut. He noted that only a narrow corridor remained under Ukrainian control, which hinders maneuvering for manpower and ammunition transport by the enemy.
That same day, a video circulated on Wagner-linked Telegram channels in which four gunmen claimed their unit had “completely cut off the ammunition supply.” Prigozhin later commented that the video showed fighters formed by him and that they “in no way discredited” the Ministry of Defense. He asserted that the PMC had bypassed all known Moscow offices to supply Wagner with ammunition and would continue to do so even if he faced imprisonment “for discrediting the army.”
“It will not affect the war”
On February 14, the New York Times reported that Ukrainian authorities intensified efforts to persuade the remaining civilians to leave Bakhmut. Some journalists suggested Kyiv may be preparing to withdraw from a city it has defended for months.
The publication described the city, once home to around 70,000 people before the war, as continually emptying as fighting grows more intense. Local officials indicated there are fewer than 5,000 residents left, including about 140 children, with Kyiv seeking their departure as well.
Meanwhile, U.S. officials have assessed that Bakhmut holds no decisive strategic value for either Moscow or Kyiv; its importance largely reflects the level of bloodshed involved.
One official, quoting John Kirby, a spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council, suggested that even if Bakhmut falls, the overall strategic impact on the broader conflict in the region would be limited.
Notes: The reporting cited includes statements from Russian, Ukrainian, and Western sources, reflecting a complex picture of battlefield dynamics and political calculations on both sides.