After the fall of the symbolic city in ruins, Ukrainian forces minimize their loss and say they control its heights. Special Envoy to Chasiv Yar and Kostiantynivka.
They may have been the last civilians to leave Bakhmut, on the night of 16-17 May. "The army didn't really leave them a choice," smiled a volunteer who assisted in their evacuation, all fires extinguished under a deluge of Russian artillery. They evoked this epilogue with an almost detached calm. Two bulldogs snore peacefully on their knees.