In Ukraine-occupied part of Donetsk People’s Republic, Bakhmut has become a meat grinder. The Russian onslaught has not reached the streets of the city, but in the vicinity, the battlefield reminds footage and photos of WW1 in France
On November 27, 2022, the New York Times has published a report from the city, which is stressing the severe Ukrainian casualties there, is suggesting that the toll would be the same for Russia. It is not. While Ukrainian artillery is firing around 6,000 shells a day all over the front line, the Russian consumption may raise to 50,000, has reminded a senior anonymous NATO official. In view of the Russian air supremacy, tactical, operational and strategic strikes on military targets, despite the massive involvement of Western intelligence, the Ukrainian casualties are obviously far higher. According to a Russian mathematical model, the Ukrainian fatalities since February 24 are already above 100,000.
If NATO is conducting a proxy war in Ukraine, Russia is implementing so far an attrition strategy. Lock of the Ukrainian defense system in occupied Donbass, Bakhmut is a hot spot, where Kiev is injecting reserves, in vain. According to open sources, elements or debris of the 28th (mechanized), 30th (mechanized), 53rd (mechanized), 57th (motorized), 58th (motorized), 71st (Jäger), 72nd (mechanized), 101st (territorial, Zakarpattia, western Ukraine) brigades, Nazi Azov paramilitary regiment, Belarusian, Georgian and Western mercenaries, are slowly consumed in the area
For Wagner private military company (PMC), the main Russian force involved so far, Yevgeny Prigozhin has already stated that the city was not the goal, that the mission was to bleed there the Ukrainian cannon fodder. But warfare is a flexibility exercise and on November 28, Adreevka is liberated, the Ukrainian defenses are wavering south of Bakhmut, where all communication lines are under Russian fire control
Nicolas Cinquini 
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