On December 21, the Armed Forces of Ukraine completely pushed out Russian troops from the eastern outskirts of Bakhmut.

The speed of the advance of Russian troops in the area of ​​Bakhmut has apparently slowed down in recent days, although it is still too early to think that the offensive has reached its climax.

As the Institute for the Study of War writes, the slowing of the advance is confirmed by the racist “military” themselves – the ZSU managed to push the “Wagnerians” back to the positions they occupied a few days ago. This is consistent with the information of Ukrainian social networks that on December 21, the Armed Forces of Ukraine completely pushed out Russian troops from the eastern outskirts of Bakhmut.

ISW also estimated that Russian forces conducted slightly fewer overall offensives in the Bakhmut area in November and December than in October.

“Russian forces are likely to find it difficult to maintain the pace of their offensive operations in the Bakhmut area and may try to initiate a tactical or operational pause,” the report said.

Among the main problems of the Russians, experts say the lack of ammunition and the heavy losses of the “Wagnerians” in recent weeks.

“The lack of personnel and ammunition of the Russian army will probably not allow it to maintain the current high pace of offensive operations in the Bakhmut area in the near future,” analysts believe.

War in Ukraine

For several months in a row, senseless assaults by the Russian army on the outskirts of Bakhmut and other settlements of the Donetsk region have been going on. According to the military, the enemy is bringing everything that is capable of combat to Bakhmut.

After escaping from the right bank of the Kherson region, Russia transferred its ragged units to this part of the front. The forces of the occupiers were reinforced by “partially mobilized” people from Russia, as well as by “Wagnerians”.

Western analysts associate such fanaticism with the strategy of the “Wagnerians”, or rather with the political ambitions of the leader Yevgeny Prigozhin. “Putin’s cook” is trying to prove to the Russian leadership that it is his mercenaries who are effective fighters, and is also trying to win the support of the far-right audience.

Separately, analysts noted that Ukrainian troops probably approached one settlement closer to Svatovo. The occupying administration has already fled the city, claims the head of the Luhansk OV, Serhii Gaidai.

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have already eliminated more than 100,000 occupiers and thousands of units of enemy equipment.