- “Since last fall, when the Ukrainians’ counterattacked and took large swaths of terrain back,” neither side has “had a large or real tactical victory,” Buckner tells Axios.
- “Everybody’s bunkered down in relatively defensive positions.”
Still, with the help of private mercenaries, Russia has seen some — albeit small — success in the eastern Donbas region this winter. - Russia’s focus currently appears to remain on Bakhmut, where a monthslong brutal fight has resembled a “battle of attrition” with heavy losses on both sides, Buckner says.
