Even if we theoretically assume that the occupiers will still manage to capture Bakhmut, they will not succeed in further advancing to Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, although they hope for it.

This opinion was expressed by military expert Serhii Grabskyi, FREEDOM informs.

Bakhmut was of strategic importance when the Russian Federation posed a threat to Sloviansk and Kramatorsk not only from the East, but also from the North - from the side of Izyum, which was successfully deoccupied.

Then Bakhmut was threatened by the entourage, as in Marupola.

"According to Russian estimates, precisely the breakthrough in the Bakhmut area would allow the enemy to enter, as they think, the operational space in the direction of Sloviansk and Kostiantynivka - also quite important locations in the Donetsk region. And therefore, as if taking into account the postulates of Russian military science, "They consider Bakhmut as such a very important point of effort. But the postulates of Russian operational art and our rules of warfare are somewhat different, and the enemy will not generally achieve the success he expects, even if he takes Bakhmut," explained the military expert.

According to him, after capturing the city, the Russians will simply face the next nodes of the Ukrainian defense, which have been created for many years in this direction.

Grabsky emphasized that Bakhmut is not a key point for a turning point at the front in favor of the Russian Federation.

The expert explained that for Ukraine, Bakhmut remains an important defense node from the point of view of exhausting the enemy's forces and stopping his advance in other directions.

"As long as the fighting continues, as long as the Ukrainian army considers it necessary to hold this point, we will continue to defend this direction," he concluded.

The situation in Bakhmut: the latest news

We will remind you that today, December 20, President Volodymyr Zelensky unexpectedly visited Bakhmut and awarded the defenders of Ukraine.

According to him, Bakhmut, which the invaders have been trying to capture since May, remains the hottest spot on the entire front line.

Yesterday it became known that the Armed Forces of Ukraine pushed back the Russians from some positions near Bakhmut.

Earlier, military expert Oleg Zhdanov told whether the Armed Forces of Ukraine would hold Bakhmut, and named the ratio of artillery in the Bakhmut direction. 

At the same time, the opinions of Zhdanov and OP adviser Oleksiy Arestovich regarding the strategic importance of Bakhmut were divided.

OP's adviser believes that Bakhmut is neither strategically nor operationally important.

While Zhdanov points to the danger for Slovyansk in case of success of the invaders.

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