Kyiv is contesting the claim of a complete Russian takeover of Bakhmut and has stressed that its troops remain in strategic positions on the outskirts of the city and are poised to retake it.
But Russian forces are sweeping through most of the city, and Russian President Vladimir Putin has already hailed the capture of Bakhmut as a victory.
Putin said he would decorate the soldiers who fought in the eight-month battle and personally congratulated both his troops and those serving with the private Russian military company Wagner Group.
Russian state-run media outlets have also praised the capture of Bakhmut as a historic victory since the Ministry of Defense claimed full control of the city on Saturday.
Federico Borsari, a transatlantic defense and security fellow with the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), said Bakhmut holds limited strategic value because of heavily fortified Ukrainian positions further west in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.
“I don’t think Russia has enough manpower, strength and capabilities to push to reach these areas because it’s already difficult for them to keep what they have now,” Borsari said.
Still, with Russia gaining its first significant victory in months, all eyes will now be on how Ukraine reacts on the battlefield to the claimed victory and whether it will retake Bakhmut or befuddle Russian troops elsewhere.
Ukraine is likely in a strong position for its long-anticipated counteroffensive after defending Bakhmut, which allowed its forces to grind down Russian power, military analysts have said for months.
Russia suffered 20,000 deaths alone since December, according to U.S. estimates, and Wagner Group bore many of those fatalities.
Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin heralded the capture of Bakhmut over the weekend but said his fighters would be withdrawing for now to regroup and resupply, which if true could limit future Russian offensive operations, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
Read the full report at digital-stage.thehill.com.
