Мазь быстро впиталась, и бинт больше не был нужен.

Because the subject is мазь (ointment), and мазь is a feminine noun in Russian.

In the past tense, Russian verbs agree with the subject in gender and number:

• masculine: впитался
• feminine: впиталась
• neuter: впиталось
• plural: впитались

So:

• Мазь впиталась = The ointment was absorbed / soaked in

Even though мазь ends in a soft sign ь, it is feminine.

Впиталась comes from the verb впитаться, which means to be absorbed, to soak in, or to sink in.

The ending -ся (here pronounced/written as -сь after a vowel in the past form) is the reflexive marker. In many cases, it gives the idea that something happens to itself or by itself, rather than something actively doing it to another object.

Compare:

• впитать = to absorb something
• впитаться = to be absorbed / soak in

So:

• Мазь впиталась = The ointment soaked in

English often uses a passive-style translation, but Russian naturally uses this reflexive verb here.

Russian often leaves out information that is obvious from context.

With мазь (ointment), it is naturally understood that it soaked into the skin or into the area where it was applied. So Мазь быстро впиталась sounds complete by itself.

If you want to be more explicit, you could say:

• Мазь быстро впиталась в кожу. = The ointment quickly absorbed into the skin.

But in normal usage, leaving out в кожу is very common.

Быстро is an adverb meaning quickly. It modifies the verb впиталась.

Russian word order is flexible, but putting быстро before the verb is very natural and neutral:

• Мазь быстро впиталась.

You could also say:

• Мазь впиталась быстро.

That is also correct, but the emphasis shifts slightly toward quickly at the end.

So the original word order is just a normal, neutral way to say it.

Больше не means no longer or not anymore.

So:

• бинт больше не был нужен = the bandage was no longer needed

Important: here больше does not mean more in the literal quantity sense. In this structure, больше не is a fixed expression meaning that something used to be true, but now it is not.

Examples:

• Я больше не курю. = I don’t smoke anymore.
• Он больше не работает здесь. = He no longer works here.

Because the sentence is talking about the past.

In Russian, when нужен (needed) is used as a predicate, the verb to be is:

• omitted in the present tense
• expressed in the past and future

Compare:

• Бинт не нужен. = The bandage is not needed.
• Бинт не был нужен. = The bandage was not needed.
• Бинт не будет нужен. = The bandage will not be needed.

So был is there because the sentence refers to a past situation.

Because нужен is the short form adjective, and short-form adjectives are commonly used in Russian as part of the predicate, especially for meanings like necessary, ready, important, sure, and so on.

Here:

• бинт был нужен = the bandage was needed

If you used нужный, that would usually mean needed or necessary as an adjective directly describing the noun, not as the main predicate in the same way.

Compare:

• нужный бинт = the needed / necessary bandage
• бинт нужен = the bandage is needed

So in this sentence, нужен is exactly the form Russian normally uses.

Because нужен agrees with бинт, and бинт is a masculine singular noun.

Short-form adjectives also agree in gender and number:

• masculine: нужен
• feminine: нужна
• neuter: нужно
• plural: нужны

Examples:

• Бинт нужен. = The bandage is needed.
• Мазь нужна. = The ointment is needed.
• Лекарство нужно. = The medicine is needed.
• Перевязочные материалы нужны. = The dressing materials are needed.

Because бинт is the subject of the second clause.

The structure is:

• бинт ... был нужен
• literally: the bandage was needed

So бинт is the thing being described as needed or not needed, and subjects are normally in the nominative case.

A learner might expect some other structure because English often says we didn’t need the bandage, but Russian here uses a different pattern:

• Бинт не был нужен. = The bandage was not needed.

That is a very natural impersonal-feeling way to express the idea.

Впиталась is perfective.

The verb pair is:

• впитываться = imperfective
• впитаться = perfective

The perfective form is used because the sentence describes a completed result: the ointment finished soaking in.

So:

• Мазь быстро впиталась = the action is complete

If you used an imperfective form like впитывалась, it would sound more like an ongoing process:

• Мазь быстро впитывалась = The ointment was soaking in quickly / used to soak in quickly

That changes the meaning. The original sentence focuses on the completed outcome.

Because и is joining two separate clauses, each with its own grammatical center:

1. Мазь быстро впиталась
2. бинт больше не был нужен

In Russian, when и joins two independent clauses, a comma is normally used.

So the comma here is standard punctuation.

Yes, Russian word order is flexible, and those versions are grammatically possible. But the original order is the most neutral and natural:

• и бинт больше не был нужен

Why this order works well:

• бинт is introduced clearly as the subject
• больше не naturally modifies the whole idea
• был нужен stays together as the predicate

Other orders may add emphasis or sound more literary, but for a learner, the original version is the safest pattern to imitate.

Usually no. Впиталась specifically suggests that the ointment was absorbed or soaked in, not simply that it dried on the surface.

So the better sense is:

• The ointment quickly soaked in
• The ointment was quickly absorbed

If you wanted to say dried, Russian would more likely use a verb such as высохла.

So:

• Мазь быстро впиталась ≠ The ointment dried quickly
• Мазь быстро высохла = The ointment dried quickly

Yes, it sounds natural and idiomatic.

It uses very normal Russian patterns:

• мазь впиталась for ointment soaking in
• больше не for no longer
• был нужен with a short-form adjective to mean was needed

So this is a good sentence to learn from, especially if you want to sound natural in practical or medical contexts.