Russian forces do not fulfil their task to capture Bakhmut by New Year - military expert Hrabskyi 

He told about this on Espreso TV.

"I cannot say that the situation around Bakhmut has eased. The enemy does not abandon attempts to attack. If we look beyond the tactical picture of the battle and talk about the operational factors, we see that the enemy uses less equipment, slightly reduced the number of attacks, because the fighting is taking place in the streets, respectively, they can hit their own troops. But we are defending ourselves and this allows our units, who know the area better, to manoeuvre and counterattack the enemy more actively," commented the military expert.

Serhiy Hrabskyi noted that the enemy, despite the fact that they were given a clear task - to capture Bakhmut by the end of the year, obviously did not fulfill this objective.

"The enemy is forced to spend its additional resources to press the situation. There is a transfer of ammunition, fuel, and contingents of Russian troops there to continue the pressure on this area. In the short term we will not see any significant changes. Of course, the defending side has more prospects to hold on, because less forces and means are needed, but the situation remains extremely difficult, despite the fact that from a military point of view, the capture of Bakhmut is unlikely to give the enemy any advantages, because it will further run into the next system of defensive positions of Ukrainian forces," Hrabskyi explained.

• On December 26, the head of Donetsk region Pavlo Kyrylenko said that Russian forces suffered huge losses near Bakhmut.
• On December 27, National Guardsman Volodymyr Nazarenko said that the enemy was increasing pressure with the number of infantry in the Bakhmut sector. 
• On December 30, the spokesman of the Eastern Grouping of Ukrainian Forces Serhiy Cherevatyi noted that the dynamics of losses makes the enemy constantly renew personnel in the eastern Ukraine.