Bakhmut.

This is coolbert:

Bakhmut the battle continues as it has for approximately seven months now without amelioration a town of little tactical/operational/strategic importance which can be easily bypassed but has not been. If the Russian indeed is able to capture the town not a whole lot will be accomplished for the amount of manpower and material which has been expended into the effort.

"Explainer: Why is Russia Trying So Hard to Capture the Small Ukrainian City of Bakhmut?"

From www.themoscowtimes.com the article by James Beardsworth.

"Russian forces have been attempting to seize Bakhmut in Ukraine’s Donetsk region for at least seven months. But in recent weeks, the battle in and around the city has become one of the fiercest of the nine-month war in Ukraine."

"Bakhmut, which sits above a vast salt mine and is famed for its Soviet-era winery, has been badly damaged — and in parts totally destroyed — by constant shelling."

"Russia’s determination to take Bakhmut has puzzled many observers, who question Moscow’s huge commitment of resources to the fight despite the city’s relative lack of strategic significance."

"The Moscow Times considers why the Kremlin might be so keen to capture the city."

Devoted readers to the blog are strongly encouraged without reservation and qualification to read the entire article for themselves. Basically it seems that the right hand man of Vlad Putin [Prigozin the commander of the Wagner PMC] his staked his career and reputation on a successful outcome of the battle in favor of the Russian over the Ukrainian a success which is yet to materialize. Merely throwing in more and more troops, men and material with excessive losses hardly a concern for this man.

As was noted in a previous blog entry the Russian capture will not be significantly of any sort of material value:

"If they [Russian] do, this will give them some bragging rights, but it is not particularly significant militarily. It is just a point on a line, and the line can continue behind that point." "Mystics and Skeptics" | 5 December.

See images from Bakhmut here. See a video as filmed in Bakhmut here.

Russian recently mobilized army personnel, convicts released from prison on parole and full-time Wagner PMC paid mercenaries ask yourself if it is all worth it. The price you have to pay the piper as payment  for the capture of Bakhmut is too great for what you will get in return

coolbert.