Bakmut and Avidivka important- Bakmut, roads, and rail lines, without those the Ukies have to move over flat, muddy plains, in commercial pick ups….Avidivka highly fortified since 2015, the area that the Ukies have been shelling Donetsk since 2015. There WERE huge amounts of Ukie artillery positioned there.
The Ukies know how important both are, thus the huge amounts of Ukies they sent into Vlad’s meatgrinder…..as we are seeing, to no avail.
None of the numbers we've seen for casualties on both sides are necessarily believable, but historically, in a trench warfare situation, attackers are expected to lose three for every one of the defenders lost.
Russia's highly publicized use of prisoners as cannon-fodder suggests they are not having an easy time of it around Bakhmut.