‘Bakhmut’s capture has no strategic value’ – Europe

The announcement of Bakhmut’s capture by Russia has no strategic significance, as it will not allow the exhausted forces of Moscow to create a bridgehead for further offensive operations: writes the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) in his report
newspaper on the progress of the conflict, as reported by Ukrainska Pravada.

The US research center also believes that the statement of the founder of the Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin about the departure of his mercenaries from the disputed city may be an attempt to mislead Ukrainian troops.

“Prygozhin’s victory over Bakhmut’s remaining districts is purely symbolic, even if it were true – writes the think tank -. The last blocks of eastern Bakhmut, which according to Prigozhin were captured by the forces of the Wagner group, are not important either from the point tactically or operationally. Their capture does not provide Russian forces with operationally significant territory to continue offensive operations or with any particularly strong position from which to defend against possible Ukrainian counterattacks.”

The study center’s experts also point out that continued Ukrainian counterattacks to the north, west and southwest of Bakhmut will complicate any further advances by Russian troops beyond the city in the near term.

Yesterday, after days of claiming Ukrainian advances, the Wagner leader surprised everyone by announcing that his mercenaries have taken “full control” of Bakhmut, dropping the ace of victory on the field while Zelensky was meeting with the G7 in Hiroshima. But the Ukrainians deny the fall of the city: the announcement “is false”, immediately commented the spokesman of the Eastern Ukrainian forces Serhiy Cherevaty.

“Our troops maintain the defense in the Litak (district) area” and “now, our defenders control some industrial and infrastructure facilities of this area and the private sector,” according to Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar, who acknowledges however a “critical situation” in Bakhmut. Prigozhin’s announcement leaves no room for interpretation: “Today, May 20, around noon, Bakhmut was taken in its entirety,” he said in a video in which he holds the Russian flag surrounded by his fighters. “By May 25 we will create the necessary defense lines and hand it over to the military” of the Russian army, she added, with the sound of artillery as a backdrop to her statements.

“The operation – the Bakhmut meat grinder – lasted 224 days,” Prigozhin said in camouflage, before launching a new attack against the Russian military leadership. “We fought not only the Ukrainian army here, we fought the Russian bureaucracy,” he said, arguing that the losses of his mercenaries were “five times higher” because of Russian defense choices, blaming Minister Sergei Shoigu and the Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov for turning the offensive into “their amusement”. “One day in history they will pay for their actions.”

Apart from the usual internal controversies of the invaders, the announcement certainly comes unexpected, after days of Ukrainian claims to advance in and around Bakhmut. The city is the scene of the longest and bloodiest battle of the invasion. Both Moscow and Kiev are believed to have suffered heavy losses in holding the city, which provides important road links with other parts of the Donetsk region: east to the border with Luhansk, northwest with Sloviansk, and southwest with Kostiantynivka. But one of his conquests would have more than anything else a high symbolic value: if confirmed, it would in fact be a victory for Russia, which has not had a tangible result on the field for some time. And it certainly would not bode well in view of the launch of the long-awaited Kiev counter-offensive. There is currently no independent confirmation of the Wagner claim, while Kiev continues to deny the Russian takeover of the mining city.

Also in its evening update, the Ukrainian General Staff reported that “the fierce battles for the city continue” and during the day, “the enemy conducted unsuccessful offensive actions in the direction of Bila Hora”, a village southwest of the Donetsk settlement. Meanwhile, it is not only in Bakhmut that the war is making itself felt. Ukrainian forces announced that they shot down all drones launched by Russia over the Dnipropetrovsk region last night, the head of the regional military administration, Serhii Lysak, said on Telegram.
riporta Ukrinform.

“Enemy fired drones at Dnipropetrovsk region last night. All drones were shot down by Eastern Air Command,” Lysak wrote, adding that this morning the Russians hit the Nikopol district with heavy artillery. In particular, the community of Myrove was hit, but no casualties or injuries were reported.