Day 292: December 12First of all, when it comes to the Battle for Bakhmut, the Russians reportedly started developing their offensive operation to the north of the city, and some sources already claimed that the Russians took Pidhorodne. It was said that the Ukrainians also blew up a bridge that connected the Ukrainian rear positions to this village, which was used as evidence of Russian advancement. However, not everything is as it seems. Firstly, they did not cut themselves off Pidhorodne by destroying the bridge. Secondly, the base of Wagner forces that are responsible for storming this region was destroyed. And thirdly, such developments would likely serve as a better signal about new developments near Soledar. And here is why.If we look closer, we can see why the situation here is so complicated. Firstly, the Russians control the eastern outskirts of Bakmut, and Pokrovske, while the Ukrainians control the village Bakhmutske. The latest reports suggest that the Russians control approximately 30% of this village, meaning that the Ukrainians are still controlling the fields. And this is extremely important because, if we look at the topographic map, we can see that this is the best position for countering Russian attacks to the north of Bakhmut City.The Ukrainians cannot really do anything from Bakhmut itself because they cannot see Russian movements behind the hill. And the Ukrainians cannot defend themselves effectively from Pidhorodne because the Russians come from behind the hill. However, when it comes to the village of Bakhmutske, even though Ukrainian positions here are located in the lowlands, they are still located on the same side of the hill. That is why, so far, every Russian attempt to take Pihorodne has failed. So, any preventative actions, such as the destruction of bridges, must first signal the worsening of the situation in Bakhmutske.Still, if we look at the bridge that the Ukrainians have allegedly destroyed, we can see that this is not the bridge that connects Ukrainians to Pidhorodne but the one that connects Bakhmut and Soledar. Russian sources say that this was an attempt to block the road with the remnants to cover up their retreat from Pidhorodne. However, this does not make a lot of sense. Firstly, the Ukrainians still have another road from the south that leads to Pidhorodne. Secondly, there are two more bridges that are much closer than the Ukrainians could have supposedly destroyed. And thirdly, again, why blow up a useful bridge to block the road below if you can destroy the bridge with this road, which would be more effective.Things just don’t add up. By digging more into this topic, I found out that the bridge was destroyed around the time when the Ukrainians had a planned rotation. So, if we look at it from the Russian point of view, the destruction of this bridge means that one important ground line of communication between the two cities that the Russians struggle to take is destroyed, and the remnants of the destroyed bridge temporarily block the road exactly when the Ukrainians wanted to substitute tired troops with fresh ones, and they also preserve the bottom bridge for possible future use to cross this area.The Russians are also controlling the hills, so the intersection is basically in direct view of the Russians. For all these reasons, I think that the bridge was destroyed by the Russians. This way, they worsened the Ukrainian tactical position, undermined their defense a little bit, and also pulled a publicity stunt to talk about the Ukrainian retreat and fear of the encirclement of Bakhmut. From this point of view, all the details indeed add up.Overall, the Ukrainians continue holding their positions around Bakhmut. There is no retreat from Pidhorodne, which was also confirmed by the commander of the forces responsible for this region. The destruction of the bridge is an attempt to disturb Ukrainian logistics and create a semblance of progress.