Russian forces are closer to encircling Bakhmut than ever before.
The latest developments from the ruined city include the destruction of a bridge used to ferry supplies to beleaguered Ukrainian troops.
Yet Russian advances have been measured in meters and thousands of irrevocable losses.
According to the best estimates, the Russian Army has suffered over 1,000 casualties some days — losses magnified by poor training and limited access to adequate medical care.
The trail of death and destruction leaves the status of a possible victory by the Kremlin, whether apparent or pyrrhic, open to debate. Regardless, Ukraine's survival remains in doubt.
Fighting remains fierce — as it has been for months.
NBC News has more following a frontline visit from Russia's defense minister:
Sergei Shoigu inspected troops at a forward command post in the eastern Donetsk region, Russia's Defense Ministry said in a Telegram post, adding that Shoigu also presented several awards.
“There is still a lot of work ahead,” the ministry quoted Shoigu as saying to troops. “Good luck, wishing you success, and, of course, to come home alive.”
Owing to high casualties and battlefield setbacks, Shoigu has come under withering criticism from some of Putin's fiercest allies.
One year of fighting in Ukraine may have claimed more Russian lives than all U.S. losses during the Vietnam War.
Nevertheless, Shoigu remains in power.
And desperate to eke out a victory.
Russian artillery pounded the last routes out of the city on Friday, aiming to encircle it and secure Moscow's first major battlefield victory in nearly a year.
Russia has focused on seizing Bakhmut for a much needed success that could also serve as a stepping stone to the rest of the Ukraine's industrial heartland, known as the Donbas region.
Prior to Ukrainian independence, the Donbas region was a vital hub of Soviet industrialization. Observers consider its occupation essential to capturing Eastern Ukraine.
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Russia will accomplish acquiring eastern and other areas of the Ukraine that it wants to form a buffer to the western NATO nations. Ukraine will remain largely intact but weakened as a nation. Zelensky will eventually excile with a nice bank account as has happened so many times in previous engagements that the U.S. bankrolls.
I have a question – if it takes the ruskies this long to take an area in Ukraine, just how does putt-putt expect to recreate the old ussr, which has ALWAYS been his main objective!!!!!!
Sorry, but it has not. If you think about it, it was only when NATO was knocking on their door that Russia lashed out. We kept expanding NATO even though the cold war was over. Now we have 2 NATO members on Russian borders and 2 more have applied to do so. If that happened in the USA (Cuba part of Warsaw, and Mexico), and then Canada wished to join the Warsaw pact, how do you think we’d have reacted?