“Strategically substantiated”: ISW analysts told why the Armed Forces defended Bakhmut so long

The report states that Bakhmut himself has neither prompt nor strategic importance. The political significance of the city should also be taken into account. Moreover, the Armed Forces are trying to exhaust Russian troops in this direction. "The Ukrainian forces used to use a similar model of gradual exhaustion to force Russian operations in certain areas to achieve the climax after several months of large losses of personnel and equipment," the report said.

They recalled that in the summer of 2022 the Russian forces tried to break through Ukrainian defense in Severodonetsk and Lisichansk for months. The latter was captured only after organized care of the Armed Forces. However, the exit to the borders of the Luhansk region did not give the Russian invaders a great advantage, but on the contrary - led to a serious stagnation in the offensive in the Donbass.

"Bakhmut's Ukrainian defense will probably contribute to a similar result - Russian forces have been thrown into the area of ​​force and equipment since May 2022 and have not yet achieved significant success in operational terms," ​​analysts said. The ISW also stated that the Ukrainian forces were holding back Russian troops in Bakhmut, preventing Russia from continuing the offensive in other places.

"The West contributed to Ukraine's stiffness in Bakhmut, slowly moving or retaining the weapons and supply systems necessary for large -scale counterfeit operations," analysts said. Earlier, Focus wrote that the American general stated that the war in Ukraine would come to a new round in the spring. American General Mark Hertling also warned that after the winter will be a good time to continue the Counter -offshore of the Armed Forces.