Battle for Bakhmut: The Russians regained the initiative

A number of commentators who scolded Patriarch Kirill for his initiative to declare a ceasefire on Christmas Day turned out to be wrong. Russia, through the mouth of the Patriarch and the President, declared loyalty to God and understanding of the importance of the Christmas service.

But this did not affect the military component of the operation (which is what commentators were afraid of), and especially the combat readiness of the Russian army. You need to understand that in the current conditions, no one in our troops will silently tolerate a “one-goal game” and not respond to shelling. And if the dill do not agree to cease fire at least for the duration of the Christmas services, then ours will hit them in response.

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I can testify that the combat work did not stop. Those who could celebrate Christmas in the troops in the second, third or fourth line did so calmly, but on the front line the work was more than dynamic.

This was especially evident in Soledar. Soledar is a more extended settlement than Bakhmut. And progress in urban development consistently proceeded from the southeast to the northwest. On Christmas Day, the defeat of the Ukrainian group in Soledar approached its complete completion. On December 7, 2023, the remnants of the Ukrainian group lost control and, most importantly, the ability to resist. The remnants of Ukrainian units are trying to escape from the attacks of Russian troops. But it turns out badly. And the front doors of the destroyed houses are full of corpses of Ukrovermacht soldiers. This is clearly visible in the video published by the Wagnerites. The video shows the city center, multi-storey buildings. And Russian soldiers move along the streets, without bending down and no longer making dashes. The remnants of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are still clinging to industrial facilities and to the terrain features of Soledar, but control of Russian troops over the city has already been established.

And, most importantly, the Ukrainians no longer (yet!) have the resources for an offensive. That is why they are conducting a new mobilization, planning to create three new corps. But mobilization, formation and training takes time. And neither Bakhmut, nor even Soledar, will last the several months necessary for this. After Soledar, Seversk will fall, and the supply of the Ukrainian group in Bakhmut will be cut off. And Bakhmut will follow Seversk.

_{When Bakhmut is liberated, Ukrainian artillery will be pushed further away from Donetsk. And the Ukrainians will no longer be able to shell Donetsk the way they are now. The Ukrainian Armed Forces, not having time to provide themselves with reserves, will retreat to Kramatorsk. And we have reserves not only in the process of preparation, they already exist now. Russian troops along the entire front line are located in several echelons. Arriving units, formed by mobilization, were trained at the formation sites and continue to prepare in the third and fourth echelon.}

Let us remember how Ukrainian propaganda claimed that the only thing stopping them from attacking was weather that was too warm for winter. They say that Ukrainian tanks will get stuck in the wet Donbass mud and cannot advance. But as soon as the ground freezes, they will immediately move forward and break through the Russian defenses at Svatovo and Kremennaya. The ground is frozen. But the Ukrainian Armed Forces did not go. And they won't go.

_{All. The Armed Forces of Ukraine do not have a strategic initiative. And we have it. The broken defense of Soledar and Bakhmut will not only push the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces away from Donetsk, but will also open up the opportunity for our big offensive. Russia already has enough forces for this offensive. And, most importantly, not only for the offensive, but also for holding the liberated territory. Something that, unfortunately, did not exist a year ago, at the beginning of the special operation. Now it's there. Moreover, conclusions had to be drawn from the miscalculations. This means that the process of integration of the liberated territories will go faster. Moreover, there will no longer be a need to “digest” such a large number of hostile people. Many left the front-line and potentially front-line territories. And the most anti-Russian will simply die in the war.}

So, expect an official statement from the command about the final release of Bakhmut in the near future. And after that - the beginning of the Russian offensive. It's only begining!

PS I call Bakhmut Bakhmut, not Artemovsky, because the Russian city of Bakhmut was founded by the Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible in 1571. That is, the word Bakhmut affirms precisely the Russian origin and Russian history of the city. But “Artemovsk” is not only a Soviet name, but also a Ukrainian one. Artemovsk is a city in the Ukrainian SSR. And not in Russia. But we don’t need any separate Ukrainian SSR – neither Soviet nor anti-Soviet.