“The Battle for Bakhmut: Costly and Symbolic, but Ultimately Insignificant”

Russian forces succeeded in capturing the small city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, but the costly 10-month offensive left soldiers exhausted and besieged with little chance of advance, according to an analysis published by the Wall Street Journal.

The newspaper says, quoting observers and analysts, that experts were confused about the reason that prompted Moscow and Kiev to spend a lot of lives and equipment in the Battle of Bakhmut, especially taking into account the limited strategic value of the small city.

Nevertheless, analysts who spoke to the newspaper, such as Mark Cancian, senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, point to the great symbolic importance of the city, comparing it to “Stalingrad”, the Russian city that withstood a harsh and long Nazi attack.

With this, the newspaper says that the moral victory that Moscow obtained in Bakhmut will not mean meaningful gains for its forces, especially as Ukraine is preparing to respond to Russian forces in a widely expected attack, as it strives to recover nearly a fifth of its territory from Russia.

While the long defense of Bakhmut cost Ukraine dearly, Kiev did not deploy any of the brigades that the Western allies had trained and equipped in the city in preparation for the offensive.

On the other hand, Russia itself is preparing to launch attacks, but with severely depleted forces, in the battles of Bakhmut and in its winter offensive, which failed to make significant progress.

The Battle of Bakhmut also widened divisions within the Russian military, according to the newspaper.

Instead of advancing on other population centers west of Bakhmut, Russia must now hold the shattered city against Ukrainian forces deployed in the nearby hills.

And if the Russian paramilitary Wagner Group withdraws entirely from the city as promised by its founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, other forces will be needed to hold it.

With the capture of Bakhmut, Prigozhin said, he created an opportunity for the regular Russian army to launch attacks on the West.

However, Ukrainian forces launched a series of local counterattacks north and south of the city, recapturing territory that the Russians had taken weeks to capture.

The counterattacks around Bakhmut are one of a series of moves by Ukraine to prepare the battlefield for a broader effort to recapture territory captured by Russia.

The newspaper quoted Yuri Fedorenko, commander of the drone unit of the 92nd Mechanized Brigade, which recaptured territory north of Bakhmut, as saying that his unit succeeded in suppressing Russian artillery fire using a radar system provided by the United States, which enabled them to locate and target its sources.