The speed of promotion of Russian troops in the area of the Ukrainian Bakhmut in the Donetsk region has slowed down in recent days, although it is too early to judge whether the Russian offensive has reached the granular with the aim of capturing the city, according to the next summary of the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
According to one of the Russian bloggers, the Ukrainian forces pushed the mercenaries of the Wagner group at the positions that they occupied a few days ago.
Sources in Ukrainian social networks previously argued that on December 21, Ukrainian forces completely supplanted Russian troops from the eastern outskirts of Bakhmut. According to ISW estimates, in November and December, Russian troops made less attacks in this area than in October.
Russians currently do not have the necessary stock of artillery ammunition to support large -scale offensive operations. It will probably be difficult for them to maintain the pace of their offensive operations, and they may try to initiate a tactical or operational pause, according to ISW.
Messages about the heavy losses of Wagner’s mercenaries in the Bakhmut area in recent weeks also probably influenced the current operational capabilities of the Russian forces in the area, analysts write.
In their opinion, the continuous and expensive offensive of Russia on Bakhmut can also worsen the ability of Russia to pursue long -term goals at the theater of military operations in the Donbass.