The Ukrainian soldiers are in a life and death crisis, while the Russian soldiers are facing new challenges behind them. The tactics of the Russian army are changing day by day, adopting small-scale encirclement tactics, devouring Ukrainian strongholds point by point in a small bite and slowly eating, abandoning the large-scale encirclement tactics of the past. They are relentlessly carrying out small-scale encirclement battles in several areas, capturing Ukrainian strongholds one by one. At the same time, the Russian army bombarded the urban area of Bakhmut with all its might, and blocked the supply lines of the Ukrainian army with fire in order to weaken its combat effectiveness. The tactics adopted by the Russian army are quite ferocious, heavy self-propelled artillery units and long-range rocket artillery units spare no effort to destroy Bakhmut, trying to mentally break the will to fight of the Ukrainian army. Although in the Bakhmut direction, the Russian army suffered heavy losses in the ground offensive, but through a sustained high-pressure offensive, they destroyed the Ukrainian defense line and weakened its ability and will to continue fighting.
However, after the commander of the Ukrainian army, General Sirsky, personally visited Bakhmut to supervise the battlefield, the Ukrainian soldiers planned a counteroffensive plan to try to pinch the Russian assault force, but this was not an easy task. Just tens of kilometers north of Bakhmut, the motorized army of the Western Military District of the Russian army is hidden there, posing a threat to the Ukrainian army's north-south attack, but it is quite difficult for the Ukrainian soldiers to successfully counterattack.
The capture of Bakhmut is the end of the current offensive for the Russians, and if they can capture the city in March, it will be a significant victory. Since July 2022, Russian troops have not succeeded in capturing any Ukrainian cities, so Bakhmut's capture will be a morale-boosting victory for Russian soldiers. However, once Bakhmut is captured, the Russian soldiers will most likely need to go into a state of rest. Because it can be seen from the map that the western part of Bakhmut is a continuous area of highlands, and one after another highlands hinder the advance of Russian soldiers. They will have to face the Ukrainian army's holding on the heights, which will be a serious challenge for the Russian soldiers.
The Ukrainian soldiers have been fighting for more than a year and have suffered heavy casualties. In this war, there is an urgent need for weapons such as 50-100 kg precision-guided artillery shells, rockets and large precision strike cruise missiles that are simple to manufacture, can be mass-produced, can hit targets at ranges of tens of kilometers, and have certain precision strike capabilities. These weapons can change the tide of the war and provide greater advantages for Ukrainian soldiers. At the same time, Russian soldiers should also consider investing in the research and development and production of intelligent ammunition to improve their precision strike capabilities, so as to more effectively respond to the persistence of Ukrainian soldiers.
This Russian-Ukrainian war has entered the orbit of a protracted war, and according to some opinions, this war may last for many years. In future battles, both sides will need to constantly adjust their tactics and seek new weapons and technologies to support their strategic objectives.