Battle of Bakhmut in the Donbas area of Southeastern Ukraine has become symbolic of the entire conflict, with both sides battling to hold their ground. Ukraine’s 45-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky defied military experts, saying that Bakhmut has been lost long ago to the Russia Federation, now resembles a rock pile more than a once bustling city. Recently released Top Secret files by 21-year-old Pentagon leader Jack Teixeira show that Bakhmut was a total loser for Ukraine, wasting stockpiles of U.S. munitions on a losing battle. Zelensky’s commanders and U..S military advisers told him he was wasting large amounts of munitions without any victory in sight. Yet Zelensky pressed ahead believing that one more loss to the Kremlin would raise doubt about whether Kiev would ever succeed at reclaiming 25% of sovereign territory lost during 14 months of war.
Kiev officials were touting frustrations on the Bakkmut front, saying the head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary Group Yevgeny Prigozhin was pulling out of Bakhmut. So much of Zelensky’s war strategy has been devoted to denying the prodigious losses of Ukraine’s sovereign territory during the last 14 months. Russian President Vladimir Putin has pursued his Bakhmut strategy with just as many losses to the Wagner Group and Russian military. Estimate of Russian losses in Bakhmut have been in the thousands, with Ukraine never reporting on its losses. Any Russian losses are only Kiev estimates, largely favoiring he Ukrainian side. Both sides have been a loggerheads for months, grinding away for the bragging rights to winning the territory. To Zelensky, any loss of Bakhmut would concede that Russia has, once against, seized more sovereign Ukrainian territory.
Wagner’s Prigozhin said he thought Russian Defense Miniister Sergei Shoigu had failed to supply enough munitions to succeed in Bakhmut. “Overnight we received a combat order, for the first time in all this time,” Prigozhin said. Prigozhin said he didn’t receive enough of the promised munitions to complete the job in Bakhmut. “We have been promised as much ammunition and weapons as we need to continue further operations. We have been promised that everything needed to prevent the enemy from cutting us off from [supplies] will be deployed on the flank,” Prigozhin said, confirming that he would continue the fight. Kiev hyped Prigozhin’s threat to pull his Wagner mercenary group out of the area. Now that he’s been guaranteed weapons, Prigozhin said the battle will go on. Russia sees Bakhmut as the bridge to seizing more territory in the Peoples Republics of Donetsk and Luhanssk.
President Joe Biden, 80, continues to supply Zelensky all the cash-and-weapons needed to win back lost territory. Zelensky said recently he wants U.S. F-16 advanced fighter jets to go after the superior Russian air force that’s held a strategic advantage since the Feb. 24, 2022 invasion. Zelensky asked Biden for U.S. troops and to set up a no-fly-zone setting to stop the Russian air force. Biden refused Zelensky’s request saying it would escalate the war into WW III. No matter what the U.S. and NATO give Kiev, Zelensky thinks Biden hasn’t done enough. When it comes to Bakhmut, it’s been a six-month stalemate with neither side giving in. Zelensky fears surrendering Bakhmut would make Kiev look weak. U.S. military experts question Zelensky’s stubborn insistence to keeping the fight going in Bakmut. Zelensky thinks if he gives in on Bakhmut he’s accused of failure.
For the last 14 months, Zelensky hid his losses from the public, only touting Ukraine victories but never admitting to losing nearly the entire Black Sea coast and all its strategic ports. Leaked documents show that Biden and Zelensky deliberately concealed the amount of Ukraine’s losses to the Kremlin over the last 14 months of war. Now Zelensky says when he starts his counteroffensive with U.S. and NATO tanks, Patriot Missile batteries and medium raged missiles, he’s going to succeed in reclaiming lost sovereign territory. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Miley said it’s highly doubtful Zelensky can reclaim its lost territory in 2023. Stretching the war out into an Election Year could have disastrous consequences for Biden showing that he’s not managing the Ukraine War and slow down and possible recession in the U.S. economy.
Expecting Ukraine’s counteroffensive soon, Russia has moved into a more defensive strategy, looking to resist Kiev’s assaults while holding on to its seized territory over the last 14 months. U.S. and EU officials will look at whether Zelensky can reclaim its lost territory or surrender more to the Kremlin. At some point, Biden and Zelensky must admit that the war hasn’t gone as planned with Ukraine sustaining more carnage and infrastructure damage. Pressure has already mounted to settle the conflict at the peace table, something Biden and Zelensky have refused. Whatever risks of continuing the conflict, Biden and Zelensky think they’ll have more leverage in any settlement with Putin if they seize back more sovereign territory. No one know whether they can pull that off, especially watching the stalemate in Bakhmut. More losses to Zelensky would pressure him into ending the war.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
