A potential loss of Bakhmut only a few months after Russia captured the city in a Pyrrhic victory would demoralize what was left of their invasion force. A potential loss of Bakhmut only a few months after Russia captured the city in a Pyrrhic victory would demoralize what was left of their invasion force. By likening the city as a gateway to Kyiv's fall, Moscow is now forced to hold onto a pile of ash with no cover or concealment and strategic heights that Ukraine has retaken. Russia, which played a significant role in encircling General Paulus' Sixth Army in Stalingrad, potentially faces the same mistakes Germany made on the Eastern Front.