The scale of Putin’s destruction in Bakhmut as President Zelensky compares it to Hiroshima 

Horrifying images have shown the scale of destruction wrought by Vladimir Putin’s forces in Bakhmut as President Volodymyr Zelensky compared the scenes of devastation in the Ukrainian city to Hiroshima’s levelling by an atomic bomb.

Pictures reveal how the 400-year-old city has been razed to the ground during the longest and bloodiest battle of the war, with tens of thousands killed and countless neighbourhoods destroyed. 

Zelensky described Bakhmut and Hiroshima, which was destroyed in 1945 by the first weaponised nuclear bomb, as being ‘just the same, nothing alive left, all of the buildings have been ruined’.

The President made the comments at the G7 meeting in Japan, where he insisted the Kremlin’s forces had ‘not occupied’ Bakhmut, contrary to claims made by Moscow and the Wagner Mercenary group. 

Ukraine said on Sunday that its forces were still advancing around the edges of Bakhmut, aiming to encircle the ruined eastern city after Moscow congratulated its troops and the Wagner private army for capturing it.

New images out of Bakhmut show smoke rising from gutted apartment blocks in the embattled city

A wounded Ukrainian serviceman receives treatment near Bakhmut as the fighting continues there

One block of flats could be seen to maintain a small remnant of what it looked like before the war broke out, with striking graffiti remaining on the side of the charred building

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (left) and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky prepare to lay wreaths at the Cenotaph for the Victims of the Atomic Bomb at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park

Russia claims it has completely taken Bakhmut, which, if confirmed, would be a largely symbolic victory for the Kremlin after a series of setbacks in the relentless 15-month war.

But Kyiv has strenuously denied that Russian forces had fully occupied what is left of the besieged city, with generals also claiming that they are catching the invaders there in a ‘semi encirclement’.

As the two sides have fiercely contested control of the city, Moscow’s determination to cling onto its meagre gains there has led it to bombard the already-ruined city with shelling. 

Newly released aerial shots show smoke rising from gutted high rise buildings, which were most likely home to residents who are now long gone.

Fires have been pictured raging in concrete apartment blocks, suggesting recent attacks on the empty city, which was once home to 70,000 people.

Former residential blocks are now nothing more than shells, unrecognisable as places of habitation

Drone shots from high above Bakhmut show the extent of the city’s devastation by air strikes, with no sign of life remaining in the once beautiful city

One block of flats could be seen to maintain a small remnant of what it looked like before the war broke out, with striking graffiti remaining on the side of the charred building. 

Drone shots from high above Bakhmut show the extent of the city’s devastation by air strikes, with no sign of life remaining in the once beautiful city. 

The human cost of Russia’s violent assault on Bakhmut has also been revealed in devastating pictures.

In one, a wounded and bloodied Ukrainian serviceman is seen receiving treatment at a stabilization point near the city.

An eerie shot shows the sun rising over smoke above the bombed-out city

Ukrainian soldiers are pictured making their way through an area close to the frontline

The brave fighter appeared to have severe injuries to his face, head and hands, likely sustained as he helped in the ongoing Ukrainian counter-offensive. 

As bitter fighting continues in and around Bakhmut, a top Ukrainian general said Kyiv’s forces still controlled what he accepted was an ‘insignificant’ part of Bakhmut, but one which could allow them to enter the city.

General Oleksandr Syrskyi said in a Telegram post that Kyiv’s troops were advancing on Russian forces in the suburbs and getting closer to a ‘tactical encirclement’ of the city.

Syrskyi, the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, said on Sunday he had visited front-line positions near Bakhmut, where fighting has raged for more than nine months. 

Fires have been pictured raging in concrete apartment blocks, suggesting recent attacks

Syrskyi’s assertion that Ukrainian forces were continuing their advance along the flanks of the city was echoed by Ukraine’s Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar.

‘Our forces have taken the city in a semi-encirclement, which gives us the opportunity to destroy the enemy … the enemy has to defend himself in the part of the city he controls,’ Maliar said on Telegram.

Ukrainian troops were still defending industrial and infrastructure facilities and had claimed part of the overlooking heights, Maliar said.

In the past 24 hours, the Russian offensive around Bakhmut has not let up, including air strikes on the city and the village of Ivanivske on its western approaches, said a statement by the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Later on Sunday, Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said in an audio message on Telegram that his group’s job was done and his forces would leave the conflict zone within days.

‘Wagner today captured no territory. We have captured all the territory we promised to capture, right up to the last centimetre,’ Prigozhin said. 

Ukrainian servicemen fire a 120mm mortar towards Russian positions at the frontline near Bakhmut

Ukrainian soldiers fire a cannon near Bakhmut as the fierce nine-month battle for the city continues

‘As we stated yesterday. We are handing over our positions to (Russia’s) Defence Ministry and on the 25th (of May) we are leaving the conflict zone.’

Bakhmut has no strategic value according to military analysts, although Moscow has said that capturing it would be a stepping stone towards advancing deeper into the industrial region of Donbas it claims to have annexed from Ukraine.

Answering questions from the media at a press conference following the G7 leaders’ meeting in Hiroshima, Japan, Zelensky was asked whether the battle for the city was still ongoing and whether its defence was worth all the lives that have been lost.

Fields around Bakhmut have been pictured scarred with craters from shelling

He said: ‘We don’t have simple questions any more, as well as we don’t have simple answers. Because we have a very complicated neighbour, who is a criminal and terrorist, a complicated enemy.

‘We are keeping young, fighting thanks to the courage of our people, our warriors, and thanks to our cleverness. We are not throwing people to die.’

The Ukrainian president said a counter-offensive is being prepared, telling reporters he is confident of receiving F-16 fighter jets and Russia ‘will feel’ the fightback. His generals also claim they are catching Kremlin forces in a ‘semi encirclement’ around Bakhmut.

Mr Zelensky added: ‘Bakhmut is not occupied by Russian Federation as of today. There are no two or three interpretations of those words.’

Zelensky described Bakhmut and Hiroshima – which was destroyed in 1945 by the first weaponised nuclear bomb – as being ‘just the same, nothing alive left, all of the buildings have been ruined’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says Russian troops are in Ukraine’s eastern city of Bakhmut but he insists it is ‘not occupied’, while giving a press conference at the G7 in Japan

Zelensky appeared at today’s press conference alongside President Joe Biden, who has announced the US is granting its 38th military package for Ukraine – worth $375million

The Ukrainian president (centre) said a counter-offensive is being prepared, telling reporters he is confident of receiving F-16 fighter jets and Russia ‘will feel’ the fightback

Bakhmut (right) is situated in the epicentre of the fighting, close to Ukraine’s counter-offensive. Kyiv and Moscow sources do not agree whether the region has been captured by Russia

In Hiroshima, Zelensky visited the memorial to mark the Japanese city being the first place to experience the devastation of a nuclear bomb following the US attack in 1945.

The atomic bombing of Hiroshima on August 6 of that year destroyed the city and killed 140,000 people.

Mr Zelensky, speaking to reporters afterwards, said scenes in Bakhmut reminded him of the images he had seen of a ‘ruined’ Hiroshima. 

The Ukrainian president praised the rebuilding of Hiroshima by Japan and said Ukraine would ‘definitely’ look to reconstruct its battered cities and towns in a similar way.

Speaking through a translator, Mr Zelensky told a press conference after his visit to the atomic bomb memorial: ‘Let me be sincere that the pictures of ruined Hiroshima really remind me, totally remind me, of Bakhmut and other similar settlements and towns.

‘Just the same: nothing alive left, all of the buildings have been ruined, there is no understanding where the street is, where the houses used to be.

‘This is just a totally destroyed area, nothing left, not a single person left.’

Prime Minister Kishida and President Zelensky bow as they lay flowers in front of the cenotaph

The Ukrainian president praised the rebuilding of Hiroshima by Japan and said Ukraine would ‘definitely’ look to reconstruct its battered cities and towns in a similar way

Speaking through a translator, Mr Zelensky told a press conference after his visit to the atomic bomb memorial: ‘Let me be sincere that the pictures of ruined Hiroshima really remind me, totally remind me, of Bakhmut and other similar settlements and towns’

Reflecting on Hiroshima’s changes since 1945, Mr Zelensky said: ‘This is the modern city today which looks alive. There are the pictures of the tragedies of Hiroshima and then the pictures of what we can see today.

‘I consider that the same will take place in Bakhmut and other cities and settlements and villages and so on. Definitely, it will be like that.

‘Unfortunately, today it is a tragedy but in the future there will be reconstruction and recovery.’

Zelensky declined to give any further information about the situation in Bakhmut as he appeared at today’s press conference alongside US President Joe Biden. 

The US has pledged its 38th military package for Ukraine, this time worth $375million, as Biden vowed the US ‘will not waver’ in its support of the invaded country.

Zelensky’s comments follow contradictory reports about Bakhmut’s status, as Russia and its mercenary army Wagner announced this morning their troops had taken full control of it.

Earlier during the Japanese summit, Zelensky appeared to suggest that Bakhmut had fallen.

When asked if the city was in Ukraine’s hands, Zelensky said: ‘I think no, but you have to – to understand that there is nothing, They’ve destroyed everything. There are no buildings. It’s a pity. It’s tragedy.’

Zelensky’s press secretary later appeared to backtrack on those comments.

And the spokesman for Ukraine’s Eastern Group of Forces, Serhii Cherevaty, said that the Ukrainian military is managing to hold positions in the vicinity of Bakhmut.

‘The president correctly said that the city has, in fact, been razed to the ground. The enemy is being destroyed every day by massive artillery and aviation strikes, and our units report that the situation is extremely difficult.

This video grab taken from a shooting by AFPTV shows an aerial view of destructions during fighting in the city of Bakhmut in February

‘Our military keep fortifications and several premises in the southwestern part of the city. Heavy fighting is underway,’ he said.

It was only the latest flip-flopping of the situation in Bakhmut after eight months of intense fighting.

Only hours earlier, Russian state new agencies reported that President Vladimir Putin congratulated ‘Wagner assault detachments, as well as all servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces units, who provided them with the necessary support and flank protection, on the completion of the operation to liberate Artyomovsk,’ which is Bakhmut’s Soviet-era name.

Russia’s Defense Ministry also said that Wagner and military units ‘completed the liberation’ of Bakhmut.

At the G-7 in Japan, Zelensky stood side by side with U.S. President Joe Biden during a news conference. Biden announced $375 million more in aid for Ukraine, which included more ammunition, artillery, and vehicles.

‘I thanked him for the significant financial assistance to (Ukraine) from (the U.S.),’ Zelensky tweeted later.

Many analysts say that even if Russia was victorious in Bakhmut, it was unlikely to turn the tide in the war.

The Russian capture of the last remaining ground in Bakhmut is ‘not tactically or operationally significant,’ a Washington-based think tank said late Saturday. The Institute for the Study of War said that taking control of these areas ‘does not grant Russian forces operationally significant terrain to continue conducting offensive operations,’ nor to ‘to defend against possible Ukrainian counterattacks.’

In a video posted on Telegram, Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin said the city came under complete Russian control at about midday Saturday. He spoke surrounded by about a half-dozen fighters, with ruined buildings in the background and explosions heard in the distance.

Vladimir Putin (pictured) has congratulated Russia’s Wagner mercenary group and the national army on their claimed capture of Bakhmut

Russian forces still seek to seize the remaining part of the Donetsk region still under Ukrainian control, including several heavily fortified areas.

It isn’t clear which side has paid a higher price in the battle for Bakhmut. Both Russia and Ukraine have endured losses believed to be in the thousands, though neither has disclosed casualty numbers.

Zelensky underlined the importance of defending Bakhmut in an interview with The Associated Press in March, saying its fall could allow Russia to rally international support for a deal that might require Kyiv to make unacceptable compromises.

Analysts have said Bakhmut’s fall would be a blow to Ukraine and give some tactical advantages to Russia but wouldn’t prove decisive to the outcome of the war.

Bakhmut, located about 55 kilometers (34 miles) north of the Russian-held regional capital of Donetsk, had a prewar population of 80,000 and was an important industrial center, surrounded by salt and gypsum mines.

The city, which was named Artyomovsk after a Bolshevik revolutionary when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union, also was known for its sparkling wine production in underground caves. Its broad tree-lined avenues, lush parks and stately downtown with imposing late 19th-century mansions – all now reduced to a smoldering wasteland – made it a popular tourist destination.

When a separatist rebellion engulfed eastern Ukraine in 2014 weeks after Moscow’s illegal annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, the rebels quickly won control of the city, only to lose it a few months later.

After Russia switched its focus to the Donbas following a botched attempt to seize Kyiv early in the February 2022 invasion, Moscow’s troops tried to take Bakhmut in August but were pushed back.

The fighting there abated in autumn as Russia was confronted with Ukrainian counteroffensives in the east and the south, but it resumed at full pace late last year. In January, Russia captured the salt-mining town of Soledar, just north of Bakhmut, and closed in on the city’s suburbs.

Yevgeny Prigozhin (centre), head of the Wagner private army, says his troops will leave the city on Thursday and hand it over to the Russian military

Intense Russian shelling targeted the city and nearby villages as Moscow waged a three-sided assault to try to finish off the resistance in what Ukrainians called ‘fortress Bakhmut.’

Mercenaries from Wagner spearheaded the Russian offensive. Prigozhin tried to use the battle for the city to expand his clout amid the tensions with the top Russian military leaders whom he harshly criticized.

‘We fought not only with the Ukrainian armed forces in Bakhmut. We fought the Russian bureaucracy, which threw sand in the wheels,’ Prigozhin said in the video on Saturday.

The relentless Russian artillery bombardment left few buildings intact amid ferocious house-to-house battles. Wagner fighters ‘marched on the bodies of their own soldiers’ according to Ukrainian officials. Both sides have spent ammunition at a rate unseen in any armed conflict for decades, firing thousands of rounds a day.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has said that seizing the city would allow Russia to press its offensive farther into the Donetsk region, one of the four Ukrainian provinces that Moscow illegally annexed in September.

‘Vladimir Putin congratulates the Wagner assault detachments, as well as all units of the Russian Armed Forces, which confirmed the presence and closure of the flanks, on the completion of the operation to liberate Artemovsk [Bakhmut’s name during the Soviet era].’

Bakhmut is situated northeast of the Donetsk region, some 13 miles from the Luhansk region. It has been a stone’s throw from the frontlines of fighting since last summer.

Mr Zelensky said he thought Ukraine had lost the city, but added: ‘You have to understand that there is nothing. They [the Russians] destroyed everything.’

‘For today, Bakhmut is only in our hearts,’ he said. ‘There is nothing in this place.’

Mr Zelensky was speaking alongside President Joe Biden at the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan.

Russia’s defence ministry had said early on Sunday that forces of the Wagner private army, with the support of Russian troops, had seized Bakhmut.

The ministry statement on the Telegram channel came about eight hours after a similar claim by Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Ukrainian authorities at that time said fighting for Bakhmut was continuing.

The Russian ministry statement on the Telegram channel came about eight hours after a similar claim by Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin. Ukrainian authorities at that time said fighting for Bakhmut was continuing.

Members of Wagner group were pictured waving a Russian national flag and Wagner Group’s flag on the rooftop of a damaged building in Bakhmut yesterday, as they declared victory over the city

Ukrainian servicemen fire a BM-21 Grad multiple launch rocket system towards Russian troops near Bakhmut on Friday

Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin (pictured centre) claimed his forces have full control Bakhmut – which Kyiv denies – in a video recorded in front of destroyed buildings as explosions are heard in the distance

The eight-month battle for the city in eastern Ukraine is the longest and probably most bloody of the conflict in Ukraine.

Using the city’s Soviet-era name, the Russian ministry said, ‘In the Artyomovsk tactical direction, the assault teams of the Wagner private military company with the support of artillery and aviation of the southern battlegroup has completed the liberation of the city of Artyomovsk.’

Russian state news agencies cited the Kremlin’s press service as saying President Vladimir Putin ‘congratulates the Wagner assault detachments, as well as all servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces units, who provided them with the necessary support and flank protection, on the completion of the operation to liberate Artyomovsk.’

In a video posted earlier on Telegram, Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin said the city came under complete Russian control at about midday Saturday. He spoke flanked by about a half dozen fighters, with ruined buildings in the background and explosions heard in the distance.

Fighting has raged in and around Bakhmut for more than eight months.

Russian forces will still face the massive task of seizing the remaining part of the Donetsk region still under Ukrainian control, including several heavily fortified areas.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky (left) and President Joe Biden take part in a bilateral meeting during the G7 summit

Analysts have said Bakhmut’s fall would be a blow to Ukraine and give some tactical advantages to Russia but wouldn’t prove decisive to the outcome of the war.

Russian forces still face the enormous task of seizing the rest of the Donetsk region under Ukrainian control, including several heavily fortified areas. The provinces of Donetsk and neighboring Luhansk make up the Donbas, Ukraine’s industrial heartland where a separatist uprising began in 2014 and which Moscow illegally annexed in September.

Bakhmut, located about 55 kilometers (34 miles) north of the Russian-held regional capital of Donetsk, had a prewar population of 80,000 and was an important industrial center, surrounded by salt and gypsum mines.

The city, which was named Artyomovsk after a Bolshevik revolutionary when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union, also was known for its sparkling wine production in underground caves. 

Its broad tree-lined avenues, lush parks and stately downtown with imposing late 19th-century mansions – all now reduced to a smoldering wasteland – made it a popular tourist destination.

When a separatist rebellion engulfed eastern Ukraine in 2014 weeks after Moscow’s illegal annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, the rebels quickly won control of the city, only to lose it a few months later.

President Joe Biden puts an arm around Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky

After Russia switched its focus to the Donbas following a botched attempt to seize Kyiv early in the February 2022 invasion, Moscow’s troops tried to take Bakhmut in August but were pushed back.

The fighting there abated in autumn as Russia was confronted with Ukrainian counteroffensives in the east and the south, but it resumed at full pace late last year. In January, Russia captured the salt-mining town of Soledar, just north of Bakhmut, and closed in on the city’s suburbs.

Intense Russian shelling targeted the city and nearby villages as Moscow waged a three-sided assault to try to finish off the resistance in what Ukrainians called ‘fortress Bakhmut.’

Mercenaries from Wagner spearheaded the Russian offensive. Prigozhin tried to use the battle for the city to expand his clout amid the tensions with the top Russian military leaders whom he harshly criticized.

‘We fought not only with the Ukrainian armed forces in Bakhmut. We fought the Russian bureaucracy, which threw sand in the wheels,’ Prigozhin said in the video on Saturday.

The relentless Russian artillery bombardment left few buildings intact amid ferocious house-to-house battles. Wagner fighters ‘marched on the bodies of their own soldiers’ according to Ukrainian officials. Both sides have spent ammunition at a rate unseen in any armed conflict for decades, firing thousands of rounds a day.

A shocking before and after of Bakhmut highlighting the devastation caused by the conflict

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has said that seizing the city would allow Russia to press its offensive farther into the Donetsk region, one of the four Ukrainian provinces that Moscow illegally annexed in September.

Zelensky had a busy schedule his first day at the G7 summit.

For Zelensky and Modi, it was their first in-person meeting since Russia invaded the Ukraine some 15 months ago.

India has close ties to Russia – it is a major purchaser of Russian weapons and Russia crude oil, which is helping to fund Putin’s war. And while Modi’s government has sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine, it has abstained from UN resolutions calling for Russia’s withdrawal and condemning the invasion.

Before he arrived at the G7, Zelensky stopped in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to address the Arab League Summit. In his remarks, he accused some Arab leaders of ignoring the horrors of Russia’s invasion of his country.

‘Unfortunately, there are some in the world and here, among you, who turn a blind eye to those cages and illegal annexations,’ he said, urging them to ‘take an honest look’ at the war.

Ahead of Zelensky’s arrival, Biden, facing pressure from Europe to help Ukraine end the conflict, agreed to allow European countries with F-16s to transfer some of the war planes to the embattled nation.

‘President Biden informed his G7 counterparts the United States will support the joint effort to train Ukrainian pilots on fourth generation fighter aircraft including F-16s,’ National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Saturday.

‘Over the past few months we and our allies and partners have really focused on providing Ukraine with the system’s weapons and training needs to be able to conduct effective offensive operations this spring,’ he said.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi

kraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky met with Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (left) and Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (right) at the G7

President Zelensky met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Sunday

President Volodymyr Zelensky travels in a motorcade as he arrives at the G7 summit

The plane carrying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky makes its decent

Ukraine is planning a massive counter offensive to retake its territory and attempt to drive out Putin’s forces. But the delivery of F-16s – and the training to operate them – will take months.

‘I welcome the historic decision of the United States and @POTUS to support an international fighter jet coalition. This will greatly enhance our army in the sky,’ Zelensky wrote on Twitter. 

Zelensky was in Europe this week to meet with leaders from France, Italy, the United Kingdom and Germany to shore up alliances and ask for more aid.

Early in the conflict Biden had resisted sending the advanced military fighter plans to Ukraine out of fears they would use it to strike into the heart of Russia, provoking the Kremlin to expand the conflict outside of Ukraine’s borders.

But several European countries have F-16s in their arsenals in wanted to send them to Kyiv but need American permission to give them to a third-party because of the advanced U.S. technology on the planes. 

Sullivan argued ‘nothing has changed. Our approach to the provision of weapons, material, training to the Ukrainians has followed the exigencies of the conflict.’

‘Now that we have delivered everything we said we were going to deliver,’ he added, ‘we put the Ukrainians in a position to make progress on the battlefield through the counter offensive.’

President Zelensky with French President Emmanuel Macron

Japan roled out the red carpet to welcome Zelensky

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky walks through the corridor of the Grand Prince Hotel where the G7 summit is taking place

Zelensky flew to Hiroshima on a French plane

F-16 fighter jets have long topped Ukraine’s wishlist

The F-16 training will be done by U.S. personnel in the coming weeks. The timeline for that training remains unclear bu American officials previously estimated it could take up to 18 months.

‘As the training unfolds in the coming months, we will work with our allies to determine when planes will be delivered, who will be delivering them and how many,’ Sullivan said.

The U.S. Air Force has two F-16 air wings in Europe: the 31st Fighter Wing at the Aviano Air Base in Italy and the 52nd Fighter Wing at Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany. The U.S. also routinely sends F-16 fighters in and out of Europe on a rotational basis in smaller groups. 

So far, Ukraine has been relying on much older MiG fighters, 27 of which have been given to them by Poland and Slovakia. Only a few European countries have a supply of F-16s, including the Netherlands which has 40 and Denmark which has 30, in addition to Poland and Norway.

F-16s have been at the top of Ukraine’s weapons wishlist since it was handed main battle tanks from the likes of the US, United Kingdom and Germany. 

Western allies have taken even harsher measures against Russia in at attempt to pressure Putin to end the war. G7 leaders announced another round of sanctions on Friday, targeting Russia’s energy sector and military complex. 

Moscow, in response, has upped its bombing campaign in Ukraine.