Ukrainians leaving Bakhmut describe constant shelling, fear and cold

FILE PHOTO: Residential houses are damaged by a Russian military strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Bakhmut in Donetsk region, Ukraine, December 9, 2022. REUTERS/Yevhen Titov

KOSTIANTYNIVKA, Ukraine (Reuters) - Ukrainians leaving the eastern city of Bakhmut this week described almost constant Russian shelling that forced residents to shelter in basements and sleep in the bitter cold.

Bakhmut, with a population of 80,000 people before Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February, has become a symbol of the grinding warfare playing out along much of the eastern front, where enemy positions have rarely budged more than a few hundred metres (yards) in recent weeks.