City Battle Offers Benefits: How Ukrainians are bleeding Russian troops dry in Bakhmut

Russian fighters continue to make progress in Bakhmut – but they pay a high price for it. Despite being outnumbered, the Ukrainians are bleeding their attackers dry. This is because they have a distinct advantage over their attackers in the city.

“Bakhmut holds!” – “Bachmut stands firm!”, is it[called every day on the Twitter account “War Monitor”, where the Ukrainian troops continue to successfully defend the city against Russian attacks. There is always speculation as to whether one side will give in to the struggle that has been going on for months. But the battles drag on. It is true that Russia has recently made slow progress and, according to its own statements, has taken around 80 percent of the city. Despite this, the Russian troops have so far not managed to completely drive the Ukrainian army out of the city or to encircle it, as the Kremlin has repeatedly claimed.

On the contrary: Ukrainian fighters manage to bleed the Russians dry in the local battle. This is exactly the tactic why President Volodymyr Zelenskyy does not want to give up the militarily “unimportant” city: to inflict as much damage as possible on the enemy. With success, because the Russians’ losses in recent weeks have been high, according to several experts. There are no exact numbers, but the Wagner mercenaries alone are said to have suffered around 20,000 victims. New battalions are constantly being rotated in and out of the city to replace fallen fighters. The military expert Gustav Gressel from the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) expects a wear and tear of about two to three brigades.

But how do the Ukrainians manage to inflict such high losses on the Russians, even though they are greatly outnumbered? One reason is that the city offers great advantages to the defenders. The houses in the city center are good terrain for them: “Most of the buildings are larger and have basements. The basements offer the Ukrainian soldiers good shelters that can be easily expanded against artillery fire.” These are reinforced with support beams and sandbags on the walls to keep them from collapsing even if the house above them collapses when attacked.

This is important because Russia launched a massive artillery attack on Ukrainian troops in Bakhmut. On the other hand, the basement rooms offer optimal protection, even under collapsed houses. This is how the Ukrainians manage to withstand the attacks. The houses that are still standing offer the soldiers another advantage: they can take up positions on the higher floors, from where they have a good view of the Russian attackers. From above they can inflict serious damage on the Russians with bazookas.

Ukrainians destroy Russian tanks from above

“The moment the artillery fire stops, they jump out of these shelters and go back to their positions or to blocks of houses that are just beyond,” explains Gressel. In this way, the Russian army makes very little progress, because it cannot break through itself with artillery fire and only pushes the Ukrainians back 100 to 200 meters.

For the Russians, the urban terrain also has other disadvantages in store. Because they can’t fire their armored personnel carriers through houses blocking their way, they have to get very close to the apartment blocks they want to take. “The problem is that they then have to come out of cover and drive across open roads where the Ukrainian defenders have a clear shot at the attackers,” said Gressel. Snipers and anti-tank squads then fire from the surrounding apartment blocks at the Russian tanks, which have weaker armor on top. “The chance that they will completely destroy the tanks with it is very high.”

“Situation is under control”

The challenge facing the Ukrainians are the supply lines. Because Russian forces have so far failed to cut off supply lines and encircle the Ukrainians from the north and south, roads still lead out of Bakhmut and into the city. However, these are small and unpaved. It is therefore difficult to determine how well the Ukrainians can get the wounded out of the city and get new forces, says Gressel. However, as long as this works well, the Ukrainians’ “bleeding tactic” makes perfect sense for the expert.

Another advantage is that the Russians are pooling their forces in Bakhmut for tough local combat, which they lack in other areas. This is particularly important in view of Ukraine’s forthcoming spring offensive, which will probably not start in Bakhmut but probably further south. The Russians then lack material and troops there.

Nevertheless, Bakhmut remains the epicenter of hostilities, commander of the Ukrainian land forces Oleksandr Syrskyi told Telegram on Tuesday. “The enemy concentrates its greatest efforts there and does not give up the goal of bringing the city under its control at any cost.” The increased artillery and air raids laid the city in ruins. However, Ukrainian soldiers inflicted heavy casualties on Russian troops and significantly slowed down their offensive. “The situation is under control.”