Bakhmut, City in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine
Bakhmut sits along the Bakhmutka River at roughly 200 meters elevation in the hilly terrain of eastern Ukraine. The urban area spreads over several valleys and ridges within the Donets Basin.
A fortress was built here in 1571 under Ivan the Terrible to guard against raids from the Crimea. The discovery of rock salt deposits in 1876 turned the settlement into an industrial hub within the Russian Empire.
The city has been known under several names over the centuries, reflecting the shifting powers and communities that settled here. Locals use the current name to reconnect with a past that predates the Soviet industrial period.
The city connects to larger centers in eastern Ukraine through the Kharkiv-Popasna railway built in 1878. Current military operations make travel to this area strongly inadvisable and unsafe for visitors.
The ongoing conflict in the region caused mass evacuations of residents between January 2022 and mid 2023. The city became one of the most heavily contested areas in the entire war, displacing almost the entire former population of over 70000 people.
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