“The liberation of Artemovsk continues; the city is an important defensive center for Ukrainian troops in the Donbas; taking control of the city will allow further offensive actions to be carried out already within Ukrainian lines.” In just two sentences, this Tuesday is pronounced as one russian tv channelSecretary of Defence, Sergei Shoigusummed up the transcendent dilemma facing his country in the fierce war. bakhmutIn the words of military experts and observers “a meat grinderdue to the high losses recorded.
Using the old Soviet name of the town and even ignoring the Ukrainian equivalent –artemivsk– The person in charge admitted, almost involuntarily and through the back door, that he almost took the risk of whether or not Russia was at war. But for the Ukrainian side the situation looks less dramatic, without positions it can allow a retreat. on the battlefield Analysts agree that it can be significantly reduced.
1. Without Bakhmut, there is no Donbas for the Kremlin.
“The capture of Bakhmut is necessary, but not sufficient for Russia to make further progress in the Donetsk province.” daily report prepared by Institute of War Studies, (ISW) is outspoken about it. If the Kremlin troops do not succeed in occupying the city and expelling the Ukrainian troops, they may long forget to realize the complete conquest of the Donbas, a territory formed by the aforementioned Donetsk province and its neighbor Lugansk. After the blitzkrieg failed to overthrow President Volodymyr Zelenski’s government in a matter of days, a prime target by President Vladimir Putin in April, just a month after the invasion began.
Bakhmut is a ‘must have’ for the Kremlin. However, its conquest does not guarantee anything to the occupying powers. “If they reach their immediate goal, a new line of defense for the Ukrainian forces awaits them, not an open field, and new fierce battles that will continue for months,” he told El Periódico de Catalunya of the Prensa Ibérica group. , Michael Samusformer Ukrainian officer at the head New Geopolitical Research NetworkA platform specializing in military issues and analysis.
An assessment verified by david lewisGlobal Policy Professor university of exeter and the more populated towns of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, half an hour’s drive away, and an international security and authoritarianism expert who stressed that under no circumstances is an imminent threat. “Can (Russia) can achieve achievements such as: conquest of bakhmut at a high cost; but conquering the rest of the Donetsk province will be much more difficult, including heavily fortified positions. Slovak And Donetsk“, confirming with an e-mail.
2. Russia as in the First World War
“Russia does not military operations; no military operation is launched on the front thousands of men and try to go forward without any hope of advantages that significantly alter reality on the ground; Acting like this, the Kremlin is actually proposing major wars like in the First World War”. Expert Samus points out that this bloody and terrible war of Bakhmut lays on the table a fact that has already been identified by military experts from the very early stages of the conflict, namely outdated military tactics Russian commanders incapable of understanding how to wage a war in the “21st century”. “Because we don’t even have control of the airspace, we can’t even draw parallels with the airspace. II. World War“, to continue.
Where Russia aspires to an advantageous strategic position, such as the Vuhledar on the so-called southern front, it will help Russian troops expand and make the offensive less vulnerable. cross country runner The Kremlin, which connects Crimea to Donbass, magnificent disaster. This 155th Marine Infantry Brigade It was completely destroyed, as well as 130 armored vehicles, including one. tank quarantine and a thousand soldiers.
3. Kyiv distributes the game
No one knows how long battle of bakhmut, but what is clear is that it is Kiev who, depending on their aims and interests, tells us how far we have gone and either orders a partial or total retreat or chooses to continue the fight to wear out the enemy, depending on their aims and interests. also in a favorable scenario. · “No one knows how long the battle for Bakhmut will last, time is volatile in terms of military strategy; what we do not know at the moment are the targets that Kiev may have”, Samus recalls. If the target wear down the enemyThe Ukrainian military expert continues that if “the war will be long” but instead to limit casualties, “the war will be shorter”.
For now and given that the city is not completely surrounded by Russian forces and has an open access road, Ukrainian commanders They have a multitude of assets and possibilities, from holding positions to ordering a retreat to the new defensive line mounted on them. Chasiv YarA suburban town located about ten kilometers west of Bakhmut and partially withdrawn into the western quarters of the city. bakhmutovka river, forcing opponents to wear out painfully urban warfare where, according to military tradition, the defensive forces always have the advantage.