Season of Offensives: What to Expect from the Spring Campaign in Ukraine; Why Bakhmut has Taken Center Stage in War in Ukraine; UKR’s Military Repels Over 140 RU Attacks Over Past 24 hrs; RU Wagner Chief Says He Needs Help to Seize Ukraine's Bakhmut, LIVE UPDATES and MORE

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Season of offensives: What to expect from the spring campaign in Ukraine:

On the battlefields of eastern Ukraine, with the first days of March came the all-consuming mud. Videos of trucks and armored vehicles bogged down in fields heralded the arrival of a time traditionally known in Ukrainian as bezdorizhzhia, or “roadlessness.”

Though the mud may present a brief challenge to both Russian and Ukrainian operations for a few weeks, it also marks the beginning of the spring 2023 campaign in Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Over spring and into summer, both sides are expected to make major offensive moves to take territory and grasp the initiative as the full-scale war enters its second year.

Both sides have reasons for confidence in success on the battlefield.

Over the past two months, Russia, using vast quantities of infantry, artillery and armored vehicles, is on the verge of finally capturing the “fortress city” of Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast after a months-long assault.

Taking Bakhmut would represent the first major Russian gain since the capture of nearby Lysychansk over eight months prior, and the only significant change of territorial control since Ukraine’s liberation of Kherson and the surrounding areas on the western bank of the Dnipro River in November.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Armed Forces eagerly await the arrival of over 100 Western-built tanks into their ranks, after partners’ consistent refusal to provide the weapons was dramatically broken with a flurry of pledges in January.

Complemented by several hundred more Western armored vehicles to be delivered around the same time, German-made Leopards, British Challenger 2, and American M1A1 Abrams tanks are expected to provide Ukraine with the high-tech offensive spearhead needed to break through well-prepared Russian defensive lines. --->LOTS MORE to this story HERE

AP Photo, File

Why Bakhmut has taken center stage in war in Ukraine:

The six-month battle for the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut has been the longest and bloodiest fight of the war so far.

Little known outside Ukraine before the Russian invasion, Bakhmut has become a symbol of the country’s fortitude and perseverance in the face of the Kremlin’s onslaught.

The Ukrainian leadership vowed again this week to keep defending the city, but some observers have warned that holding on to it could be too dangerous and costly.

Here is a look at Bakhmut, the battle and its possible consequences.

WHAT KIND OF CITY IS BAKHMUT?

Bakhmut, which had a prewar population of more than 70,000, was an important center for salt and gypsum mining in the Donetsk region of the country’s industrial heartland known as the Donbas.

The city was also known for its sparkling wine production in historic underground caves. Its broad tree-lined avenues, lush parks and stately downtown with imposing late 19th century buildings made it a popular tourist attraction.

When a separatist rebellion engulfed the Donbas in April 2014, weeks after Moscow’s illegal annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, Russia-backed separatists won control of the city but lost it a few months later.

HOW DID THE FIGHTING EVOLVE? --->READ MORE HERE

Follow links below to +++++relevant+++++ and related stories:

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