Wagner Group mercenaries appear to be slowing down their attack on the town of Bakhmut, nicknamed the “Cutting Machine” due to the bloody fighting that raged there.
Wagner’s men say they will soon surround the town and take it under their control. Bridges and roads there have been shelled in recent days, but the stories do not match whether the Ukrainians will pull out of the town.
But when you look at the big picture, something much bigger is going on, at least if you look at the combined Russian offensive and the cards the Ukrainians have in their hands.
The Russians aren’t firing as much artillery as they used to, and the Ukrainians are sparing the new ammunition they’ve received from their Western allies. This was highlighted by Jacob Kaarsbo, an expert from the Danish think tank Tænketanken Europa, in an interview with TV2.
He said British and Ukrainian intelligence information indicated that Russia was running out of ammunition for its artillery.
Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s military intelligence service, believes that Russia may miss something or another for the army in a short period of time. In an interview with USA Today, he said that if the Russian military does not achieve its goals this spring, it will run out of weapons, ammunition and other necessities.
He said that Russia spent a huge amount of weapons and other equipment during the war, not to mention the losses. He said the Russian economy and production capacity cannot cover this huge loss.
Kaarsbo said the Ukrainians did not send their Western-trained soldiers to Bakhmut, nor did they send the tanks the West gave them. He said they want to salvage this until they can do a big counter-offensive themselves, and that will probably start in April.
Budanov told USA Today that this spring Russia and Ukraine will have a “decisive battle and it will be the last before the end of this war.”
