Bakhmut became a trap for the invaders: ISW explained the meaning of the bloody battle
Date: 2022-12-01 Author: Кирило Загоруйко Categories: WAR
Bloody battles for Bakhmut continue, the Armed Forces of Ukraine give a rebuff to the Rashists, but they are desperately trying to achieve success. However, the occupiers do not realize that they have fallen into a trap again.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) explained the meaning of such a long and fierce battle for Bakhmut. According to analysts, rashists do not draw conclusions from their past mistakes.
“Russian efforts around Bakhmut show that Russian forces have fundamentally failed to learn from previous high casualty campaigns focused on targets of limited operational or strategic importance. six months they achieved an increase of only about a few kilometers at a time," the experts said.
The ISW also said that the attempts of the invaders to attack Bakhmut only led to the fact that the manpower and equipment of the Russian army continues to be depleted. In addition, the Rashist troops often find themselves trapped in small towns.
“This pattern of operations is very reminiscent of previous attempts by the Russians to take Severodonetsk and Lysychansk at the beginning of the war. According to ISW, during June and July of this year, Ukrainian forces actually allowed Russian forces to concentrate their efforts on Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, two cities near the border with the Lugansk region, of limited operational and strategic importance to capitalize on the continued degradation of Russian manpower and materiel during months of stubborn fighting.
As a result, the Russian troops captured Lisichansk and Severodonetsk and almost reached the borders of the Lugansk region. However, as noted in ISW, such a tactical success of the Russians led to only an insignificant operational effect, because after that the rashists failed to achieve serious progress.
“Russian efforts in this area have largely stalled, as they did in early July. Even if Russian troops continue to advance towards and within Bakhmut, and even if they force a controlled withdrawal of Ukrainians from the city (as was the case in Lysichansk ), Bakhmut itself offers them little operational advantage.The costs associated with six months of brutal, hard-fought and exhausting fighting around Bakhmut far outweigh any operational advantage the Russians might gain from taking Bakhmut.On the other hand, Russian offensives around Bakhmut absorb a significant portion of available Russian combat power, potentially facilitating the continuation of Ukrainian counter-offensives elsewhere," the ISW said.
Analysts also added that on November 30, the Rashists tried to move south of Bakhmut. The invaders spread conflicting information that they allegedly took full control of Kurdyumovka. Analysts also believe that the successes of the Russians are insignificant. In addition, the Russians claimed the capture of Belogorovka, but the ISW does not believe that this is true.
