Winter Stalemate, Attrition Campaign and 1st Military Surge (12 Nov 2022 – 7 Jun 2023)

After the end of the twin Ukrainian counteroffensives, the fighting shifted to a semi-deadlock during the winter, with heavy casualties but reduced motion of the frontline. Russia launched a self-proclaimed winter offensive in eastern Ukraine, but the campaign ended in "disappointment" for Moscow, with limited gains as the offensive stalled. Analysts variously blamed the failure on Russia's lack of "trained men", and supply problems with artillery ammunition, among other problems. Near the end of May, Mark Galeotti assessed that "after Russia's abortive and ill-conceived winter offensive, which squandered its opportunity to consolidate its forces, UkraineUkraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Kyiv is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnipro River. On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War that began in 2014.Ukraine is in a relatively strong position."

On 7 February, The New York Times reported that Russians had newly mobilised nearly 200,000 soldiers to participate in the offensive in the Donbas, against Ukraine troops already wearied by previous fighting. The Russian private military company Wagner Group took on greater prominence in the war, leading "grinding advances" in Bakhmut with tens of thousands of recruits from prison battalions taking part in "near suicidal" assaults on Ukrainian positions.

In late January 2023, fighting intensified in southern Zaporizhzhia Oblast, with both sides suffering heavy casualties. In nearby southern parts of Donetsk Oblast, an intense, three-week Russian assault near the coal-mining town of Vuhledar was called the largest tank battle of the war to date, and ended in disaster for Russian forces, who lost "at least 130 tanks and armored personnel carriers" according to Ukrainian commanders. The British Ministry of Defence stated that "a whole Russian brigade was effectively annihilated."

In late 2022, as Russian casualties exceeded 50,000, the Russian army introduced barrier troops. The UKThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The UK became the world's first industrialised country and was the world's foremost power during the 19th and early 20th centuries.UK defence ministry stated that these are units that threaten to shoot their own retreating soldiers in order to compel offensives. In March 2023, Russian soldiers filmed a video addressed to President Putin where they stated that after suffering casualties, they attempted to return to their headquarters but their superiors denied them evacuation. They stated that barrier troops were placed behind them threatening to "destroy them". In particular, Storm-Z units have been reported to be "kept in line" by barrier troops.

Battle of Bakhmut

Following defeat in Kherson and Kharkiv, Russian and Wagner forces focused on taking the city of Bakhmut and breaking the half year long stalemate that prevailed there since the start of the war. Russian forces sought to encircle the city, attacking from the north via Soledar. After taking heavy casualties, Russian and Wagner forces took control of Soledar on 16 January 2023. By early February 2023, Bakhmut was facing attacks from north, south and east, with the sole Ukrainian supply lines coming from Chasiv Yar to the west.

On 3 March 2023, Ukrainian soldiers destroyed two key bridges, creating the possibility for a controlled fighting withdrawal from eastern sectors of Bakhmut. On 4 March, Bakhmut's deputy mayor told news services that there was street fighting in the city. On 7 March, despite the city's near-encirclement, The New York Times reported that Ukrainian commanders were requesting permission from Kyiv to continue fighting against the Russians in Bakhmut.

On 26 March, Wagner Group forces claimed to have fully captured the tactically significant Azom factory in Bakhmut. Appearing before the House Committee on Armed Services on 29 March, General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, reported that, "for about the last 20, 21 days, the RussiaRussia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the largest country in the world by land area, and extends across eleven time zones; sharing land borders with fourteen countries. Russia is the most populous country in Europe and Moscow is its capital city. Boris Yeltsin was a Soviet and Russian politician and statesman who served as President of Russia from 1991 to 1999.Russia have not made any progress whatsoever in and around Bakhmut." Milley described the severe casualties being inflicted upon the Russian forces there as a "slaughter-fest."

By the beginning of May, the ISW assessed that Ukraine controlled only 1.89 square kilometres (0.73 sq mi) of the city, less than five percent. On 18 May 2023, The New York Times reported that Ukrainian forces had launched a local counteroffensive, taking back swathes of territory to the north and south of Bakhmut over the course of a few days. On 20 May 2023, the Wagner Group claimed full control over Bakhmut, and a victory in the battle was officially declared by Russia the next day, following which Wagner forces retreated from the city in place of regular Russian units.

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This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Russian Invasion of Ukraine (2022–)", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.