The Battle for Bakhmut: Russia's Temporary Control and Uncertain Future.

Russia now effectively controls Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, but it is unclear that Moscow’s disjointed forces will be able to hold the decimated city amid a Ukrainian counterattack that has already begun. Holding the city would require Moscow to pull reinforcements from previously occupied territories, possibly creating new areas of vulnerability. Another potential curveball is the withdrawal of mercenaries from the Wagner Group, who led the onslaught against Bakhmut for months but whose founder, Yevgeniy Prigozhin, announced Sunday that his soldiers would start withdrawing Thursday.