The smart ones are telling them to withdraw, but there are not a lot of “smart” people in the West who are in charge.
I genuinely believe that Zelensky and the Ukrainian government fear that a withdrawal will appear to be a defeat and they are asking (demanding) the West for a lot more weapons right now.
Optics might be more important to Zelensky who is openly talking about taking back Crimea from the Russians and he wants the weapons to do it.
I feel sorry for the poor bastards in the trenches because they are getting the crap shelled out of them. This is NOT the kind of fight the Ukrainians are built for.
NATO Fops andd Neocon Wankers: "YEAY LITTLE WEEWEE! GO GET HIM LITTLE WEEWEE!! YOU CAN DO IT LITTLE WEEWEE!!!!!!!!!
“This is NOT the kind of fight the Ukrainians are built for.”
They sure as hell have been fighting Russia effectively.
So, is Bakhmut “of strategic military importance” or not? The answer seems to depend on who is doing the talking and when. Last summer, I remember Western sources seemed to think it important. Now they don’t.
From last summer:
“Bakhmut, the third key city in the region, is situated by a highway leading to Lysychansk. This highway is deemed an essential route for keeping Ukrainean troops supplied. Heavy battles were fought here in 2014 and 2015.”
DW still seemed to think there was strategic value in December:
https://www.dw.com/en/seizing-soledar-would-be-a-strategic-victory-for-russia/a-64357268
I don’t know anything about this Turkish site or its worth but:
Makes some sense.
So, was it important last summer but not now?
Whatever, Zelensky has poured a lot of resources into it. Apparently he thinks it is important. Same for the Russians. So are both Zelensky and the Russians stupid?
Or is the media claiming it’s not important now because Western military analysts figured the Ukrainians could not hold it against the Russians and passed along the “not important” story to the media? Who knows?
Lots of death and destruction. That we do know. Kyrie Elieson.