American analysts believe that Russian troops were forced to allocate “meager military resources” to protect against local offensive actions, as the Ukrainian command probably planned.
The counterattacks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Bakhmut direction probably eliminated the threat of the encirclement of the Ukrainian military by Russian occupiers in this sector of the front. This is stated in the report of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) dated May 19.
Analysts pointed out that according to the Ukrainian side, the Russians deployed most of their reserves in the Bakhmut area, which led to a slowdown in the counterattacking actions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The report also mentions the assessment of the Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Anna Malyar, according to which the Armed Forces of Ukraine continue counterattacks on the northern and southern outskirts of the settlement and were able to advance along two flanks by 500 and 1000 meters.
According to the authors of the report, some Russian military correspondents claim that Ukrainian troops can no longer conduct long-term local counterattacks in the Bakhmut direction. At the same time, analysts believe that Russian forces on the flanks of the city, apparently, remain weak.
Map of battles in Bakhmut
“Ukrainian counterattacks near Bakhmut likely eliminated the threat of Russian encirclement of Ukrainian forces at Bakhmut and forced Russian forces to devote scarce military resources to defend against limited and localized offensive efforts, as the Ukrainian command probably intended,” the ISW concluded.
Recall that according to the ISW of May 18, the Armed Forces of Ukraine seized the tactical initiative and achieved tactically significant successes in the Bakhmut area. The publication says that Ukrainian forces have been conducting local counterattacks for several days, which still do not indicate the start of a major counteroffensive.
We also reported that according to Anna Malyar on May 19, the Ukrainian military was successfully advancing on the flanks near Bakhmut, but every meter of liberated land is very difficult, fierce battles continue in the suburbs.
We also wrote that the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov announced the daily losses of the RF Armed Forces near Bakhmut on May 19. According to him, the occupying troops are losing about a battalion a day.
