Even as Ukrainian fighters stay in Bakhmut, for all intents and functions the town is now successfully managed by Russia.
There has been an inevitability about its seize by Wagner and Russian common forces for weeks.
I final managed to get inside the town on the finish of January and the scenario then was determined.
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Ukraine's defence of it has been hanging by a thread for a very long time.
It's estimated that for the previous few weeks, it solely managed a number of buildings - lower than 5 per cent.
This is a big second on this conflict, however not given that Moscow will current.
Yes, it has received however this huge battle is simply actually a small victory.
It's taken months of preventing, enormous quantities of fabric and the lives of tens of hundreds of its troopers to take a minor Ukrainian metropolis.
Read that sentence once more, after which mirror on the truth that when Vladimir Putin's forces invaded, they supposed to take the capital Kyiv; and it places all of it into perspective.
The self-proclaimed world's second-most highly effective military has actually struggled to perform its mission.
Bakhmut shouldn't be of no strategic worth, however its price as a conquest is restricted - in that context, its seize for Russia is a pyrrhic victory.
The fall of the small coal mining city is although undoubtedly a blow to Ukraine - it has poured an enormous quantity of assets into its defence.
Read extra:Terror and desperation inside Bakhmut's blackened nightmareZelenskyy denies claim Russia has taken control of Ukrainian city
Ukrainian forces will console themselves that they did successfully flip it right into a "kill box" inflicting a big drain on Russia's conflict machine.
But for all of the fanfare from the Wagner paramilitary group, the seize of Bakhmut is unlikely to be a turning level on this conflict - it would nearly definitely not be decisive.
The focus now will flip to Ukraine's looming counter-offensive.
Its success or failure is way extra prone to impact how this horrible battle ultimately ends.
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