https://news.yahoo.com/russias-claimed-bakhmut-win-anything-163107524.html
"What they (Ukrainians) needed to do was to, one, weaken the Russians as much as possible before they do that counteroffensive, and secondly, buy time to get that force ready," said Phillips O'Brien, professor of strategic studies at St. Andrews University in Scotland.
"They calculated -- I believe it was the right choice -- that in fighting for Bakhmut, they could do both," he told US media outlet NPR in an interview aired Saturday.[/i]