You demonstrate a fundamental lack of understanding if you think that Bahkmut is just some small city in the Donbas region with no military value. Here is a map of the geography around Bahkmut for reference.
Perhaps I’m dum, but I see Bakhmut is, cleary, being used as a black hole to suck resoures and men out of Ukraine and the West at large.
Ukraine as a whole is being used the same way. Vlad is bleeding us dry - and China loves it.