Russia is ready to surrender Bakhmut to strengthen its position in southern Ukraine - ISW
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The Russian military command is presumably ready to sacrifice some positions in the south and east in order to strengthen Melitopol and Berdyansk. As stated in a report by the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW), this is claimed by one of the Russian insider sources.
It is noted that at the beginning of the month, Russian insider sources noted that the head of the General Staff of the Russian Federation, Valery Gerasimov, wants to maintain Russian forces to protect Melitopol and Berdyansk.
“Gerasimov is also ready to withdraw troops from Bakhmut and prefers to defend Melitopol in order to prevent Ukrainian forces from bringing artillery closer to Crimea,” ISW analysts note.
At the same time, ISW experts do not rule out that this information may be pre-planned disinformation.
Earlier, military expert Alexander Kovalenko noted that the Ukrainian military could reach Tokmak in the Zaporozhye region as early as October. ISW analysts also noted that recently the Russian occupiers have slowed down the pace of offensive operations on the Kupyansk-Svatovo-Kremennaya line.
