[pierrem15]

It's hard to tell what the Russian's are trying to do in Bakhmut. My guess is they are trying to pin a good part of the Ukrainian army down to keep them from further offensives in the east or south while wearing them down, sort of like the German strategy at Verdun. I occasionally read some front-line reporting in the German press from Bakhmut. The Germans are consistently impressed by how few units the Ukrainians actually have there and how they are pounding the Russians.

If I were to guess, what is really going on is that Prigozhin was trying to out-do the regular army who got sucked into this debacle, and they are blowing smoke up Putin's butt about what's really going on hoping he'll croak before the truth gets out. Meanwhile there are some "maneuvers" going on in Belarus but the Ukrainians no longer think the Russians will try another northern attack: Kiev's defenses are now much better and the Pripet marshes are still hell to traverse all the way to the Polish border, so I doubt there will be another assault there.

[Renfrew]

“It’s hard to tell what the Russian’s are trying to do in Bakhmut.”

If you read Russian Telegram for months it has been focused on Bakhmut. Every time a block is gained it represents a national victory (and they don’t have to mention the blocks that are lost).

I think that is why they keep it going. Throw a few thousand Wagner Group convicts and other undesirables to gain some ground that can be used for propaganda.