After almost a year of fighting, Russian forces have taken control of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. The Kremlin has declared a ‘mission accomplished’, but the cost of the victory has been staggering. Thousands of Ukrainian and Russian soldiers have died, and the city is now mostly a pile of rubble.
Experts say that the victory is a ‘Pyrrhic one’, as it has not helped Russia achieve its strategic goal of taking all of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine. The Russian forces have limited options for going further, and the withdrawal of the Wagner private military company from the front line has caused tensions between them and the Russian military leadership.
Ukraine’s military has fallen back to more defensible lines outside the city, and is now preparing for a major counteroffensive. The battle for Bakhmut has been a costly one for both sides, and it appears that Russia’s ultimate goal of taking the whole of the Donbas is no closer than it was months ago.