Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Geoffrey Roberts
“The Stalingrad analogy is not one that currently favours the Ukrainian defenders of Bakhmut. Ukraine’s supply routes into the city are under siege. It will take a hard and costly fight to re-open them. Russian artillery power far outweighs that of the Ukrainians. Above Bakhmut, the Russian air force is increasingly dominant, while Ukraine’s flanking forces are under as much pressure from Russian units as its troops within the city. … at Stalingrad, attrition wasn’t the decisive factor enabling Soviet success; it was the overwhelming force they were able to assemble while at the same time pinning down the Germans in the city. It would be surprising, to say the least, if the Ukrainians have the forces and firepower to do both these things at Bakhmut.” (03/14/23)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2023/03/14/whose-stalingrad-will-bakhmut-be/