As Termie and Dope user are singing Xerson , reality on ground
The struggle for Bakhmut has grown ever more ferocious in recent days. Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky has called the fighting in the city "the most difficult".
The significance of the city cannot be overstressed.
Bakhmut lies at a fork that points toward two other strategic towns in the Donestk region: Konstantinivka to the south-west and Kramatorsk, and Slovyansk to the north-west. All three are key to Vladimir Putin's total control of the region.
A Ukrainian tank drives past our convoy on the way out of Bakhmut.
A Ukrainian tank drives past our convoy on the way out of Bakhmut.
The scenes in Bakhmut though are different to those across the rest of the country, where Ukraine has largely been able to repel and even gain territory in recent weeks as Russian forces retreated at the end of September.
Here, Russian forces have made small, steady gains, largely thanks to the Wagner group, which is considered by analysts to be a Kremlin-approved private military company.
'They hated him.' Former subordinate recalls serving under Russia's new top commander in Ukraine
'They hated him.' Former subordinate recalls serving under Russia's new top commander in Ukraine
Reports on social media and in Russian state media say Wagner mercenaries are on the outskirts of Bakhmut, in a small village called Ivangrad.
On social network Telegram, Wagner owner Yevgeny Prigozhin has acknowledged that resistance from the city is stiff.
"The situation near Bakhmut is stably difficult, the Ukrainian troops are putting up decent resistance and the legend of the fleeing Ukrainians is just a legend. Ukrainians are guys with the same iron balls as we are," he wrote.
Katrusya says she's come up against Wagner fighters, and despite their international notoriety, they seem more like a hodgepodge of soldiers for hire, she says.
"They are a rabble. There a few very well-trained professional fighters, but the majority of them have found themselves accidentally fighting in this war looking for money or for the ability to get out of jail," she said.
In September, video surfaced appearing to show Prigozhin recruiting prisoners from Russian jails for Wagner, offering a promise of clemency in exchange for six months' combat service in Ukraine.
Despite her heartbreak, Katrusya's spirit isn't dimmed. The one goal is victory.
"The price for Ukraine will be enormous," she acknowledges. "We will lose the best of the best, the most motivated and trained but we will definitely win we have no other choice it is our land. We will win absolutely."
