There are quite a few people living in Donestsk.
1 Like
Withdrawal has begun, situation is dire.
Was just a matter of time
Let’s just hope as many as possible are able to get out. 
needed a good laugh today. the hashtag #russiaiscollapsing is trending
3 Likes
4 Likes
I don’t understand this. They sacked a general and have decided to try to hold Bakhmut. Seems questionable but I am not a general. If this ends up with encirclement it will be a far heavier blow than losing the city would be.
We’ll see.
2 Likes
Trench clearing south of Bakhmut
2 Likes
Freed article from the NYT , giving a first-hand account of the tank battle for Vuhledar.
3 Likes
one of the reports I heard yesterday was that Bakhmut was being held by 3000 troops. I’m sure for the UA military that’s a LOT of troops. But nowhere near the 20K which was being reported earlier in the week.
I’m hoping that UA are planning a big wave of reinforcements to take back the north and south of the city. this battle seems like it’s the lynchpin of the front.
I am not sure it really is, just an opportunity to stop the Russians - which it already has done. The canal immediately to the west has already proved to shape the direction of the Russian advance, and Chasiv Yar could become a similar block. So I am not convinced that throwing reinforcements into the edges would be the best use of Ukrainian offensive capability. They aren’t going to drive deep into Donetsk/Luhansk or anything, whereas there have to be some significant opportunities towards Melitopol, Beryansk or Mariupol. if the Russians have been focusing their logistical capacity to sustaining the tempo around Bakhmut and to a lesser extent Vuhledar, the quieter sections are likely to be barebones after only a few hours of action. I think getting into the slog of attacking trenches and ruins would be playing the Russians’ game.
City is hanging on like a loose tooth in a 7-year old’s mouth. It has looked like it would fall within 48 hours for at least 10 days now.
4 Likes
if you look at the logistical value of that particular city and what it would mean for the Ukrainians moving east later this year in a push to purge Russia from their lands, you can see just how important that crossroads location is. There’s a reason both sides want it so badly.
this town is truly the lynchpin to move east. if you want to get to Lysychansk, you have to go all the way north to Kupyasnsk to go east if they lose Bakhmut.
1 Like
Right, but I don’t think taking back Donetsk and Luhansk are their priority war aims - and the same terrain that is bogging the Russians down will bog them down going the other way.
what do you think their priority war aims are, exactly? #1 would be, to not lose key areas which will be 4x as difficult to reclaim.
I said a month ago, the Russians want to push a far west as possible… that river just to the west of Bakhmut runs north/south all the way parallel to the road to Sivers’k, which will be next on the list for Russia since they captured Soledar…
No, I think their top of list will be restoring the 2014 borders to the greatest extent possible. If they could trade Bakhmut for Mariupol, they would do it in a heartbeat. Holding Bakhmut would be a moral victory, but doesn’t open up much of anything. By contrast, the Russian hold on the east bank of the Dniepr is dependent on just two routes, one easily blocked from Crimea, one long and thin. If they cut that road anywhere, the Russians will have to counterattack in the open simply to preserve their cut-off forces. Creating a strategic pocket of that size is how Ukraine wins this war.
2 Likes