The city of Bakhmut has become one of the most widely reported and symbolically charged locations in Ukraine since the start of Russia’s invasion. This book brings its people into focus — documenting their daily lives, thoughts, and values during the full-scale war.
Bakhmut was written during the fiercest battles for the city in early 2023, when writer and war documentarian Myroslav Laiuk, together with photojournalist Danylo Pavlov, spent days and nights alongside Ukrainian infantry and artillery units, medics and chaplains, rescue workers and children — both within the city itself and on its outskirts.
This book is divided into two parts: it includes literary reportages documenting the daily realities of soldiers and civilians in and around Bakhmut, as well as essays that situate these events into a broader context of Ukraine’s struggle to define its past and future under continuous threats from Russian colonizers and occupiers.