Russian troops are stepping up pressure on the eastern Ukrainian town of Bakhmut, sending in waves of militants to break Ukrainian resistance and attacking supply lines in a bloody campaign aimed at securing Moscow's first significant battlefield victory in months.. This is stated in the article The New York Times.

11 months after Moscow launched its invasion, Bakhmut and the areas around it have become the focus of intense fighting that is growing in importance as both sides add strength to the battle.. Russia has stepped up its efforts to capture Bakhmut, which could be key to capturing the entire Donbas, after months of bombing that began in the summer failed to bring any progress..

“The situation is very complicated,” President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video message after meeting with the military leadership. According to him, "

During the war, firepower proved critical to Russian victories, but the battle for Bakhmut was different..

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Ukrainian fighters and analysts say Moscow has increasingly relied on a cruder tactic: trying to sway the city into its winning streak due to the weight of troop numbers. As a result, Ukrainians say, Russian losses in recent battles in Bakhmut were higher than in previous months..

It seems part of Russia's evolving strategy is to fill the Ukrainian defenses with waves of soldiers, many of whom were mobilized at the behest of Vladimir Putin.. This would be a departure from Moscow's summer campaigns elsewhere in the Donbas, when artillery bombarded cities for weeks before Russia launched a sustained ground offensive..

In Bakhmut, Ukraine also suffered heavy losses.. But the calculation for each side is not the same.

Michael Kofman, director of Russian research at the CNA Research Institute in Arlington, Virginia, said the battle there cost Russia more casualties because its fighters often fought on foot, without the support of armored vehicles.. But while Ukraine's losses may be smaller, he said on a recent episode of War on the Rocks, a military podcast, they could be more painful..

Many of the troops fighting on the Russian side around Bakhmut were recruited from prison and are less trained than many of the soldiers with whom Russia started the war.. Ukraine relies heavily on the National Guard and other forces to hold its main line of defense at Bakhmut, with better trained infantry units rushing in if these fighters are under attack or retreat.

“Ukraine was essentially forced to trade in better troops to keep Bakhmut from wasted Russian forces,” Mr. Kofman said on the podcast.. This, according to him, could "

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The strategic importance of Bakhmut, military analysts say, lies in the fact that it is a crossroads of the region's highways.. The delight of the city would not guarantee that Moscow would be able to advance in the east, but it would put Russian forces in a better position to do so..

Despite setbacks in other parts of eastern Ukraine and the south since last fall, Russian troops advancing towards Bakhmut from the east are gradually squeezing the city.. This month they occupied Soledar, six miles to the northeast..

In the south, Ukrainian soldiers who recently left the front line said the paved road that had been their main supply route for Bakhmut was now within range of Russian artillery and tanks, though still in Ukrainian hands.. This leaves Ukraine to rely on a road west to Vremniy Yar, a target of frequent Russian attacks..

In past battles in Donbas, Russian troops have often sought to encircle the city first, leaving Ukraine to decide whether to spend expensive resources in its defense.. The tenacious battle for Bakhmut suggests that Ukraine has overcome its doubts about directly participating in a long struggle for the city and is ready to suffer losses in the hope that it can further deplete the strength of its enemy.

Fighting is also taking place in Ugledar. Moscow has moved from small-scale reconnaissance attacks around the city to a more concentrated assault, the UK Defense Ministry said on Tuesday, two days after Zelenskiy named Vuhledar as one of the areas “under constant Russian attack.”. The city, which had a pre-war population of about 14,000, was nearly destroyed, but a Ukrainian military official on Tuesday stressed it was still under Kyiv's control..

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Military analysts say Ukrainian forces have used their positions in and around Vuhledar to attack the region's main rail junction in occupied Volnovakha from less than 10 miles in an attempt to dampen Russia's resupply efforts.. The head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration, Pavel Kirilenko, said on Tuesday that there had been "

In the coming weeks and months, as both sides prepare for an offensive in the spring, Ukraine will be reinforced with new weapons, including tanks and missile systems provided by the United States and other allies..

France's defense minister announced Tuesday that his country will supply Ukraine with 12 more Caesar howitzers and step up efforts to train Ukrainian soldiers, a significant increase in military aid from a country that has recently shown reluctance to part with most of its advanced artillery..

And last week, the United States and Germany agreed, after a lengthy Ukrainian campaign, to provide Ukraine with battle tanks.. Ukraine is also pressuring its allies over jet fighters, even though President Biden resisted sending Ukraine F-16s..

But so far, many of the new troops called up in the fall give Moscow an edge..