Posted in: 05/15/2023 – 04:38
Russia announced the killing of two of its commanders in Bakhmut, namely Vyacheslav Makarov, commander of the 4th motorized rifle brigade, and Yevgeny Brovko, deputy commander of a separate unit, while trying to repel the Ukrainian attacks. The Defense Ministry rarely announces the death of a military commander in its daily briefing. This comes with Kiev announcing that it has made progress on Bakhmut, in a precedent for months.
With Kiev re-trying to break through the Russian defenses in the city Bakhmut The besieged Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday that two of its military commanders had been killed in eastern Ukraine.
The ministry said in a daily statement that Vyacheslav Makarov, commander of the 4th motorized rifle brigade, and Yevgeny Brovko, deputy commander of a separate unit, were killed while trying to repel the Ukrainian attacks.
She added that Makarov was leading the forces from the front line, and that he “died a hero from being wounded by several shrapnel.” The Defense Ministry rarely announces the death of a military commander in its daily briefing.
The ministry also stated that the Ukrainian forces launched attacks in the north and south of Bakhmut during the past 24 hours, but they did not succeed in penetrating the Russian defences. “All attacks by units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been repulsed,” she said.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of Russia’s private military group Wagner, which leads the majority of Russian operations in Bakhmut, said his forces had advanced as much as 130 meters in the past 24 hours.
In an audio statement on the Telegram app, Prigozhin said his forces had taken control of 28 multi-storey buildings on the western outskirts of Bakhmut, where Ukrainian forces were still operating.
He added that the Ukrainian forces still control 20 buildings and an area of 1.69 square kilometers.
On Sunday, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hana Malyar confirmed that the Ukrainian forces “continue to advance in the Bakhmut sector.”
She wrote on Telegram: “Our units captured more than 10 enemy positions in the north and south of Bakhmut, and cleared a large area of forest near Ivanevsky. Enemy soldiers from various units were captured.”
Neither side was able to fully control Bakhmut, despite the fierce war that has been going on for months, in which both sides suffered heavy losses.
Moscow admitted on Friday that its forces had retreated in the north of the city, amid an intensification of Ukrainian attacks, but Kiev played down hints that it had officially begun the major counterattack it had been planning for a long time.
