A Ukrainian mother whose son was executed in Bakhmut said there's no choice but to continue fighting even as Russia regains momentum

• The mother of a Ukrainian soldier who was executed said Ukraine must continue to defend Bakhmut.
• Paraska Demchuk told NBC News that the thousands of casualties in Bakhmut can't have been "in vain."
• The bloody battle of Bakhmut rages on, even in spite of the city's relative strategic unimportance. 

It was Paraska Demchuk's — and indeed, any mother's — worst nightmare.