Quote (Black XistenZ @ Jan 10 2023 07:45pm)
Sooo... since I went on Christmas vacation, Russia has gained what, 5 or 10 kilometers of ground? And that's after three weeks of intense fighting on a managable front, with all of their forces finally consolidated in one region? Not exactly impressive.
Taking random territory is not as important as taking important logistical centers, that's key to controlling highways and junctions. You can open up a map and see how Bakhmut/Soledar lies at the center of the Donbas and it also has natural barriers like waterways that make it naturally hard to take. Soledar is key to taking Bakhmut and these two have been a key point of hostilities where both sides have thrown considerable resources and man-power. Ukraine committed several battalions to defending it. Who knows the exact number of soldiers that are fighting there but if someone were to say it's somewhere in the low 5 figures it wouldn't surprise me, if you consider like a few months time span with rotations.
This is what a Spanish journalist in Ukraine had to say about it during an interview in Dec. Using her as a source because I think it's the closest to being objective.
Quote
What is happening in the battle of Bakhmut? The news we are receiving is of the death of very many people.
Yes, we have to look to the Donbas because Bakhmut is precisely the blackest point of the war in Ukraine. This week, both the Institute for the Study of War, which is a prestigious American think tank, and other international thin tanks, have agreed that up to 400 Ukrainian soldiers a day are being killed and wounded in Bakhmut.
And beyond the number, which is just a figure, I have been able to talk in recent days with different military sources, both official and combatants who have been there, and what they say makes one's hair stand on end. The city is for the moment under Ukrainian control, but the Russian troops have stationed their artillery close enough to fire there, but far enough away so as not to expose their troops too much. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian army, as it has to defend the terrain, has a lot of infantry, light units, paramilitary units that can do little against the bombs. This combat front has become today a real human meat grinder. That's how crude I can say it.
Right now it is one of the most, if not the most, worrying point for Zelenski's armed forces. Our listeners are probably wondering what is the importance of Bakhmut to take such a commitment to defend the position with such a very high cost of living. Bakhmut is not an iconic city like Severodonetsk was, where one of the great battles of this war also took place. Bakhmut is not that kind of iconic city. However, it is a communications hub that is key to the supply lines of Ukrainian troops in Donetsk province, and it is also the buffer that contains the advance of Kremlin troops towards Sloviansk and Kramatorsk. If the Russian Army were to take these two cities, it would gain almost total control of the Donetsk province and, therefore, of the entire Donbas, something that Putin could already sell as a great victory. So you can imagine the effort that the Kremlin is putting right now in taking Bakhmut and what it is costing the Ukrainians to defend it.
https://atalayar.com/en/content/maria-senovilla-bakhmut-blackest-point-ukrainian-war-400-ukrainian-soldiers-day-are-beingThis post was edited by ofthevoid on Jan 10 2023 08:15pm