In mid-December, the Russian military and Wagner proxy forces likely increased the frequency of their infantry attacks around the town of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region.. However, many of these operations were not properly supported.. British intelligence predicted whether the Russian Federation will be able to achieve a breakthrough near Bakhmut in the coming weeks.

According to the UK Ministry of Defense, over the past ten days, Ukraine has allocated significant reinforcements to protect this sector, and the frequency of Russian attacks is likely to have decreased from the peak in mid-December.. Both sides suffered significant losses.

“Russian offensive operations in this area are now probably carried out at the level of platoons or squads. It is unlikely that Russia will achieve a significant breakthrough near Bakhmut in the coming weeks,” British intelligence analysts say..

Latest Defense Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 03 January 2023Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t. co/dFqO3TLWgZ? #StandWithUkraine? pic. twitter. com/1kwYmKRUlw.

— Ministry of Defense? (@DefenceHQ) January 3, 2023.

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The Russian attack on Bakhmut is already at its climax, but has not yet reached results. Wagner units there are no longer capable of conducting offensive operations and need reinforcements.. This is stated in the report of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Kirill Budanov, the head of the GUR MO, said that the Wagnerites want to capture the city of Bakhmut so much because the owner of their PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, and the commander of Russian troops in Ukraine, Sergey Surovikin, entered into an alliance. Now these two want to prove their strength. But Budanov noted that although the occupation of the city could improve enemy positions and open the way for the Russian Federation to other cities of Donbass, this operation is not strategically important..