Stories like this make me sad for the awareness of what war is and how it works that people don't seem to have.

It was required for Ukraine to hold either Bakhmut or Adviivka to hold the Donetsk region.

Losing both inevitably meant a long series of withdrawals against an enemy with a significant artillery advantage and glide bomb advantage.

It's flat as a fucking pancake. Of course they're going to have to fall back to a defensible position. But that particular region doesn't have any.