The latest analysis by the Institute for the Study of War shows that Russian troops are not making significant advances around the key city of Bakhmut, in Donetsk region or anywhere along the front line.

In the news space, several voices are spreading the narrative that Russian forces are making significant progress in Bakhmut, presumably to improve the morale of the forces that invaded Ukraine and perhaps to improve the position of Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose forces are in significant partially responsible for the minimum wage in this area.

Russian forces made limited progress towards the Ukrainian fortress of Bakhmut, but very slowly and at great cost.

Prigozhin acknowledged the slow pace of Group Wagner’s ground operations around Bakhmut on 23 October, and stated that Wagner’s forces were advancing only 100-200 meters per day, which he absurdly claimed was the normal rate for a modern advance.

Around October 24, Ukrainian troops recaptured a concrete plant on the eastern outskirts of Bakhmut.

Ukrainian military officials said on October 16 that Russian forces had falsely claimed to have captured several towns near Bakhmut in recent days, but that Ukrainian forces were holding their ground against those Russian attacks.

Russian forces are making false claims of advances in the Bakhmut area to pretend they are making progress in at least one sector amid ongoing losses in northeastern and southern Ukraine.

Even the claimed rate of advance would be a setback for a major mechanized warfare effort—and the claims are, in fact, exaggerated, ISW concludes: